Slashdot Mirror
Pakistan Plans Mobile WiMax Network Rollout
OneInEveryCrowd writes "Pakistan is apparently ready to move ahead of the USA in the deployment of a mobile wireless network." From the article: "The deployment is a milestone in the spread of WiMax, a superfast wireless technology that has a range of up to 30 miles and can deliver broadband at a theoretical maximum of 75 megabits per second. The 802.16-2004 standard, which is used in fixed WiMax networks, is being skipped in favor of a large-scale introduction of 802.16e, which was only recently agreed upon by the WiMax Forum. 'We made the decision 18 months ago to jump over (802.16-2004) and go straight to 802.16e,' Paul Sergeant, Motorola's marketing director for Motowi4, told ZDNet UK on Tuesday. 'We've been working on it for a while, which is how we're able to ship so soon after agreement.'"
"ready to move ahead of the USA"
We get it already, 30% of high school kids drop out, our President has an IQ of 60, and smart kids are beaten in the streets, what the hell do you expect?
- Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
Its only for the rich, like most technology that Bill Gates always spounts hot air about technology revolutionising people's lives like them. No, its for the rich mostly. They even have to share mobile phones between communities in some areas, granted its at least better than nothing but its not enough.
There are many challenges Pakistan faces, but this is progress... cheap wireless broadband access for the masses is GREAT! Whatever your preconcieved notions about Pakistan, the literacy rate in the urban areas is quite high and a LOT of people will benefit from this.
It also helps in getting the literacy rate up as more people take an interest in becoming literate. You might not believe it but many rural communities can limp along quite well without any need for widespread literacy - this will change that by showing them a bigger wider world that is out there for them to explore once they start to read!
Broadband internet access means access to a multitude of different views which means its a counter against fundamentalism and brainwashing.
As a Pakistani, I am very excited about this!
Alcatel is teaming up with the Government of India to set up a WiMax development center in the South Indian city of Chennai and the products developed there will be marketed worldwide. It appears that parts of Asia prefer to rollout wireless data networks as opposed to wireline ones, probably due to the fact that it is easier to deploy wireless networks. With Europe going ahead with the adoption of UMTS and HSDPA, it looks like wireless data networks are going to become pretty ubiquitous in many parts of the world. I wonder what new applications we will see once the pipe to the phone/wireless device gets much bigger than what it is today.
It's the distance, man. WAY too many places in the US have no broadband at all with cable/wires/fiber and wifi is too short a range and trees and hills just muck it up.. WiMax is about the only way I'll get broadband, even then it will be iffy, and there are millions and millions more people in the same boat. the US is not just the top major urban areas afrter all and even a lot of suburban areas have little to no choice in broadband. If some companies get wimax out there, they WILL sell it. All these people still on dialup will go to it if it works and it is at least a reasonable cost. As it is now I pop for a phone line just to get net access, I don't *need* the land line phone, my cell works fine for phone calls, so wimax would maybe be cheaper than dialup!
Parent says: "..cheap wireless broadband access for the masses is GREAT!"
True, but I rtfa and I don't recall anything about pricing. I suspect that the masses will not benefit anytime soon.
Let me rephrase beyond "Informative" tag in two words what the parent said: "Pakistan is a developing country". Duh!
Scenario:
The big mistake of the original poster was to compare to US. God forbids to do it ever!
It is funny how citizens (residents, sympathizers) of the most powerful nation in history of the humanity get upset when instead of 100.0% domination they got only 99.999%.
What did you want to tell us, Damian? That Pakistan is a developed country? That is "Informative"?
Way to go, Pakistan!
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
Unfortunately, Britain's industry snoozed all through the ultra-Conservative Thatcher years and now has very little industry to speak of. Steel - all gone. Coal - all gone. Engineering - damn near all gone, even the mighty BAe Systems only has a tiny site on the Clyde these days. Computers - well, in Scotland we have a fairly healthy games industry in Dundee I suppose.
It all went wrong on the Conservative's watch. The US might do well to learn from that.