WiMAX: From experiment to trade

Considered as a major driver of speeding up Internet access and eliminating the digital divide between urban and rural areas, WiMAX - the same wireless Wi-Fi broadband connection technology - has become the focus of attention. the whole world. It is worth mentioning that, right at a remote border province of Vietnam, the technology is currently being tested only in this world, has been initially applied and achieved certain effects.

The first signal

As one of the five provinces selected for pilot implementation, Lao Cai with its geographical characteristics and economic conditions, has become the first province to be deployed to implement WiMAX services. Initially, this technology proved quite "ground" with the border area and began to promote efficiency.

The first stop of CSS reporter is Van Hoa secondary school - about 4.5km from the city center. With quite rugged terrain, surrounded by mountains, bringing ADSL line here will be quite expensive but not necessarily effective. So, after being selected as one of 18 WiMAX collection points, Van Hoa students have just started to have access to computers, and the internet is at the same speed as in the middle of the city. Not only that, through a small conversion device, teachers and children also use internet phones with good quality.

Leaving Van Hoa, we went to Bac Cuong commune health center. Together with the technical staff of the provincial IT center, we are able to market WiMAX receivers and applications of this technology. IP telephony with conversion equipment, high-speed Internet . all work well and promote their effectiveness, helping the nurses of the center can update the latest professional knowledge every day.

Not far from the medical center is another collection point, quite special. It was the home of Mr. Vuong Trung Thin, a farmer in Bac Cuong ward. Never had access to modern technologies like this, so he proved quite embarrassed in preserving and using the device. However, he proved very happy, because from now on, he will no longer have to ride a few kilometers to call and ask his wife and son to leave home.

Clearly, WiMAX is proving its prospects by high-end applications in a place with many socio-economic conditions like Lao Cai. However, what is the nature of this technology? Why is it so much expected and how commercially capable of this technology?

Turn on Wimax?

- WiMAX is an acronym for World Interoperability for Microwave Access (Global inter-network capability for microwave access).In other words, WiMAX is the wireless broadband connection technology, based on the IEEE 802.16 standard.

- Compared to the current wireless technology which is quite popular in many urban areas VN - wifi, WiMAX has a number of advantages such as high data transfer rate, up to 70Mbps, wide coverage area, up to 50km and especially high security capability, easy to deploy on a large scale.

- Due to non-dependence on difficult or flat terrain and high penetration, WiMAX is expected to create breakthroughs in bringing internet to remote areas and areas with difficult conditions. Economic, social and especially suitable for terrain like VN.

Since its launch, WiMAX has caused a great deal of attention to the telecommunications industry. With three main advantages: high speed transmission, the ability to handle both data and voice, internet and wireless access, WiMAX - with both mobile and fixed standards - is considered a formidable rival. of not only data transmission technologies but also voice technology. And wifi - the closest brother to WiMAX - is considered to be the most threatened.

However, many studies have confirmed that, like with 3G, or ADSL, wifi will not only be threatened but also supported effectively by WiMAX.

As one of Redline Group's leading WiMAX experts, " WiMAX and Wifi are not only non-destructive but will support each other, complement each other. WiMAX brings wireless networks to homes, offices and Wifi will continue." From that source, it provides both houses, buildings and offices, in short, these two technologies support each other very effectively . "

However, despite many outstanding advantages and many expectations, WiMAX in the world today is still in the testing phase, and has hardly been commercialized on a large scale.

WiMAX commercialization in Vietnam - Far or near?

According to foreign experts, WiMax in Vietnam will really "explode" in the next one or two years as it steps through the testing phase. In particular, WiMax will have a profound impact on the mobile network because it can support multimedia facilities such as watching videos, TV, high-speed data transfer . with guaranteed quality and low cost. .

According to the explanation of Mr. Than Trong Phuc, General Director of Intel Vietnam, " WiMAX has a good prospect in Vietnam because Vietnam has not been dependent on old technology ever so far and we can take the lead off. WiMAX application now . "

However, undeniably, WiMax is still a completely new technology in Vietnam. Therefore, if we want to develop, we will have to invest in building a whole new system, investing from the beginning. Meanwhile, services that compete with fixed WiMAX, or even mobile WiMAX, such as ADSL or 3G, are already in place, with pre-built infrastructures already in place.

The earliest commercial deployments of WIMAX were not until 2007. In the meantime, ADSL, or 2.5G technologies; 2.75G, then 3G is still gradually growing and dominant in broadband mobile technology.

In addition to price and terminal equipment, WiMAX deployment will certainly face many difficulties when launching commercialization. However, believing that, with the willingness to take a short cut, coupled with the appropriate geographical features, WiMAX will quickly be put to life.