Have you heard of WiMax yet?
If not, remember you heard it here first, because it will be yet another household acronym within the next year or so.
WiMax is a brand new technology that is arriving soon. It is yet another new wireless standard, which will make Wi-Fi look like a Model T Ford compared to an Aston Martin DB9!
Wi-Fi hotspots are areas where you can connect to the Internet wirelessly using your laptop or PDA. They have been installed in airports, train stations and coffee bars (like Starbucks) around the world. For the yachting industry, numerous operators have installed them in ports and marinas. In Palma, we already have the Marinanet, Omniview and the recent Club de Mar wireless networks, which come under the same heading. There is one in Barcelona and others in Port Vauban and Golfe Juan, to name but a few.
WiMax is designed not only to replace Wi-Fi, but also to replace your wired ADSL line and to be an alternative to your faster 3G connections. The WiMax Internet connection will be up to to 25 times faster than today´s broadband. The technology - officially known as 802.16 - not only transfers data as fast as 75 Mbps, but also goes through walls and has a maximum range of 30 nautical miles.
The hardware manufacturers, led by Intel, are banking on a WiMax boom similar to the one set off by Wi-Fi. The first products are expected to roll out this year and rack up some $1 billion in sales by 2008.
Why do we need WiMax?
Think of it as a wireless alternative to ADSL or any cable modem. There are obvious advantages for any places that are not wired already - small African nations, remote Indian villages and vast swathes of China. In the Mediterranean countries, it will provide broadband access for yachts up to a useful distance offshore.
Manufacturers backing WiMax
WiMax is backed by 140 companies, from start-ups to chip giant Intel and major telecommunications companies.
Intel, one of the biggest backers of the technology, has shipped its first WiMax chips to equipment manufacturers. Full-scale deployment of WiMax is expected to begin in 2007. The company is also conducting about 50 WiMax tests around the USA and Europe to see how equipment from different WiMax suppliers can work together, and how WiMax service reacts to trees, buildings and different weather conditions.
Increased competition for communications sector
Intel President, Paul Otellini, said at a conference last September. "We are on the cusp of a WiMax era. WiMax will be to ADSL and cable modems what cellular was to land-line phones.´´
Clearly mobile phone companies are concerned about the threat to their networks, especially the new 3G network, as many have joined the 140-company WiMax Forum, including France Telecom and BT, with the intention of using the technology to help fend off threats. The new 3G network, that we all think has astonishing performance at the moment at 384k, will seem slow in comparison to WiMax at up to 75M.
WiMax could be used to either attack or defend a company´s traditional market in broadband communications. Mobile phone companies could set up a WiMax service to compete with ADSL fixed lines from the local ADSL providers such as Telefonica. Likewise, it would appear that any third party, large or small, could set up its own unlicenced WiMax service and offer both phone Internet and voice (VoIP) through its network. Prices would, we expect, be cheaper as the operator would not have had to pay for the extraordinarily high fees for the licences that 3G operators were asked to pay.
Thus, in the mid term there will be some turmoil in the market, but the end user should benefit from faster and cheaper data and voice services from all the operators.
The way forward now
As mentioned, WiMax is already being tested around the world. However, from what I can glean at the moment, the current test equipment requires an antenna to be installed outside like a sat TV dish. By 2007 we are promised dual function PCMCIA cards, similar to the current Vodafone 3G cards, and by 2008 WiMax will be built into any PC or PDA as part of the chip set on the motherboard. The equipment cost will drop from US$500 to US$200 over that period.
Conclusion
It all sounds fantastic! We will have a new wireless technology with data speeds which few of us have ever dreamed of, completely independent of line-of-sight signal, or a major operator to provide the service. However, from our experience, there is bound to be an infrastructure issue, as there is with current Wi-Fi hotspots. Wi-Fi hotspots are run by different operators and, although the technology required to access TO P16 FROM P15
the hotspots is the same, the billing for usage is not transparent. I guess this would be the same for WiMax.
In addition, with such phenomenal data speeds, the operator, who may be unlicensed, will have to have more than a few ADSL pipes to connect the WiMax users to the Internet. Otherwise, an obvious bottleneck will occur, unless of course the current cable ADSL operators start digging up the streets and offer us fibre optic fixed connections during the same period...
Just remember, you heard "WiMax" here first!
For further information, go to our website www.e3s.com for the link to the WiMax Forum.
By Roger Horner of E3 Systems
For further information www.e3s.com
Tel: +34 971 404208/400738/702975
Healthy Resolutions
It´s a new year and time for all those resolutions about getting healthier and fitter. Unfortunately, most of us don´t have sufficient willpower to be successful. A recent study of overweight people undertaking four different diets for weight loss showed that only one in four people could stick to a diet for a full year. All the diets worked for weight loss and reduction of heart disease risk factors, but only in people who could follow the diet for a year. It seems no single diet works for everyone, especially low carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins. Finding a healthy diet that suits you seems to be the way to go, and may involve trying a number of different diets until you find the one that you can live with. So don´t give up if you are not successful with a diet. Keep trying until you find the one that suits you.
Smoking is the single most unhealthy legal activity in the world, and I am pleased to learn that more countries are legislating to prevent smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants. This will reduce the risks from passive smoking for both employees and customers. The pro-smoking lobby is very powerful but I was still surprised to read that in the supposedly United Kingdom Scotland will be enacting stricter smoking restrictions than in England, and they will be in place by 2006 in Scotland as opposed to 2008 in England. Surely if the public health of the community is the problem being addressed the same policy should be applied at the same time throughout the United Kingdom.
For those of you trying to stop smoking success can be very difficult. Nicotine is more addictive than heroin and, although withdrawal symptoms may not be as severe with tobacco as with opiates, they can make life miserable for a few weeks. There is a number of products available containing nicotine in chewing gum or patches, which can be substituted for cigarettes and then gradually withdrawn. Zyban is an oral smoking cessation aid, which also has a mild antidepressant effect. It is not suitable for everyone and the product information leaflet should be read carefully before starting to take it. Like diets finding the right method for you to stop smoking may take a number of attempts until you find the one that works, but do persist in trying, as the benefits for your health are greater than anything else you will ever do.
Planning to get physically fitter and take more exercise is probably high on most New Year resolution lists. The health benefits of regular aerobic exercise are well known, with reduction in heart disease being perhaps the most important. Unfortunately, the type of exercise that is good for you is also usually boring - treadmill, jogging, cycling, rowing machine. If you are not a "gym person" go dancing regularly, or disco dance in the privacy of your home if your John Travolta impersonation is not up to public scrutiny. Try brisk walking for 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. If there is a choice walk up and down the stairs rather than take the lift or escalator. You will feel better due to release of endorphins in the brain; burning more calories will help with weight loss; and your bone strength and muscle tone will improve with benefits for posture and figure.
Resolve to drink less this year and stick to the recommended 2-3 standard drinks if you are female and a maximum of 4 standard drinks a day if you are male. Remember, the typical Mallorcan bar measure of spirits could easily have your daily allowance in one serving! Weekend binge drinking seems to be common and it is not unusual to hear about people consuming their weekly recommended number of units on a Friday and Saturday night. The high levels of alcohol produced by binging can cause brain, liver and heart damage as well as giving a serious hangover the next day.
As I write this the tragic consequences of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean continue to be revealed. With this in mind, I hope you will join with me in resolving this year to help those less fortunate than ourselves. A happy, healthy and safe New Year to you all.
Dr Ian Marshall, MCA Approved Doctor, can be contacted at the Medical Centre, Club de Mar, Palma de Mallorca. Telephone (+34) 629 818 826 or email ianm@ocea.es.