The Promise of WiMAX

Welcome back! I've been gone for a while, trying to handle personal biz. I've also been reading Tom Friedmans' book "The World is Flat" and I would say he has an interesting take on Globalization. He talks about outsourcing, opensourcing, offshoring, insourcing and even invents his own two-word combo to try and explain the techno-economic phenomenon that is unfolding on the global stage. Mr.Friedman talks about ten things that have oiled the wheels of globalization, and one of them is definitely wireless technology. WiMAX a.k.a 802.16 is one of those technology that has the potential to "flatten" the world. I prefer the term "open" to "flatten." WiMAX is a wireless technology that has the potential to "open" a region to investment and to development.

WiMAX was designed to service a fairly large geographic size (theoretically up to 31 miles) but to achieve optimum performance, a WiMAX base station can only serve a radius of 10 miles with single channel bandwidths of up to 75Mbps. This single channels can then be combined to provide bandwidths of up to 350Mbps. WiMAX, being that its still in the province of commercial companies and not anti-poverty crusaders, is currently not a feasible technology for community projects because of the capital investments required to install infrastructure. In Kenya for example, the recent deployment of WiMAX by Kenya Data Networks, a data communication carrier company that serves most Kenyan ISPs, has been in concert with the anticipated deployment of fiberoptic link between major towns. WiMAX then serves as a last mile technology to haul data, video and audio for ISPs.

The promise of WiMAX lies in its capacity to carry more information to longer distances as compared to Wi-Fi. A WiMAX network can sufficiently carry voice, video and audio traffic. For underserved communities with non-existent telephone infrastructure this can be a quick way of setting calling centers using VoIP( Voice Over Internet Protocol) . VoIP involves using IP based networks to make voice calls. A callers voice is converted into digital packets and routed over the network as opposed to using the regular circuit switched telephone system. This results in significant savings to the Wananchi ( citizens). However, the initial cost of deploying a WiMAX network is prohibitive for small businesses and community projects. This technology is still for the big dogs. Once more WiMAX equipment vendors begin to manufacture in large quantities, then the economies of scale will drive prices down and allow those savings to be passed to the consumer.

Wireless carriers are testing and deploying WiMAX as part of their migration from third generation(3G) to fourth generation (4G) cellular networks. WiMAX enjoys the blessing of some big some dogs like Intel, Motorola, Sprint Nextel and Fujitsu but is non-proprietary (open standard based).
The upside to this technology is that it helps open up entire regions of a country to entrepreneurs and in concert with fiberoptic cable deployment, any small towns that are in the path of the fiberoptic cable eventually benefit. In conclusion , fiberoptic cable brings the internet to your town, WiMAX picks it up and brings it to your neighborhood and then maybe WiFi brings it into your living room.

The Promise of Wi-Fi

Welcome to the first installment of the "Promise of" series. Not meant as a treatise on the technology but a critique of it's merits and suitability for the "cause." Wi-Fi a.k.a 802.11x is a mature wireless technology for use in building Local Area Networks. Networks built using Wi-Fi certified equipment have a range of ~25m-100m (~81ft-325ft). These Wi-Fi standards are constantly being refined to efficiently utilize available spectrum and to integrate management capabilities. The advantage of Wi-Fi is that it can be connected in a variety of topologies and the equipment involved do not require alot of power to operate thus making it suitable for environments where getting electricity is a problem.

Wi-Fi networks consist of access points(AP), computers with wireless cards, and a power source(usually a crucial component in developing countries). Wi-Fi networks can be installed as Ad-hoc nodes where each nodes is a peer to the other and coverage can be added by simply adding an access point. They can also be connected using a single AP as a master node that manages the connection to the internet and to each other. There is no one-size-fits-all configuration. Depending on the site planning findings the network designer decides which configuration is suitable.

Pros: Mature technology, multiple equipment vendors, relatively low maintenance, equipment interoperability.
Cons: Different modulation schemes use different spectrum(2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), this can be a potential problem with local regulation policy, weak security.

For a practical implementation of a community project track the Green Wi-Fi project at www.green-wifi.org (commentary coming in a future post). This guys are doing an awesome job and they could use our support.

Why the Native Son Writes

In my previous post, I coarsely defined the challenge of empowering underserved communities through the use of wireless technology. The next step (not that you couldn't it figure it out) is to examine the prescription. But before I get there, I bet you are wondering why I am so passionate about the "cause." Firstly, I love me some Africa. I am a native son and regardless of how far off I wander, the umbilical cord is never quite severed. My experiences help me to easily relate to anyone with a shared background and to build with everyone who wants to be part of the solution. Secondly, I believe that human beings, regardless of creed color and geography, have more in common than they are ready to admit(we use religion and color to justify our failure to obey the greatest commandment of all; Love thy neighbor). Thirdly, wireless technology is the most feasible when building affordable, and reliable telecommunication infrastructure in underserved communities. (Wireless is cool too! Don't you just hate those cables)

In a series of posts titled "The Promise of" I will provide an overview of the "prescription", from Wi-Fi to Software Defined Radios (SDRs) to WiMAX and how they can be used to provide access to information. I will of course interleave the series with my 30 cents worth on the international telecommunications industry and it's regulation .

Technological Endeavor is Intrinsically Human

Ever since the days when our ancestors communicated through smoke signals, human beings have not stopped developing better ways of communicating with each over long distances. Notable milestones include the telephone and radio technology. At the heart of this quest for communication is a spirit of endeavor that fuels our need to know about the obscure. We want to know about the people that live in the next village, town, city, country, continent or planet. Nature is the Goliath that stands in our way; the distance, the ocean, our inability to fly etc. Once we realized that we were aerodynamically challenged and could not compete with the eagle, we built airplanes. When we found out that we could not swim like fish, we built boats. Eternally, the human endeavor (aside from our quest for oneness with God) is to find a clever ( technology) way of overcoming nature in order to fulfill our need for socialization and survival. To "technology" is therefore intrinsically human. In a world with technological disparities between the developing and developed world and between the rural and urban communities within a country, wireless technology can transform lives by enabling new ways of communicating, learning, governing and reaching global markets. Economic disparity has created a significant digital divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" regardless of geography. Without access to information, a student in Iowa and a student in Nairobi are equally disadvantaged. Those greatly affected by this technological chasm are the ones that need it most; low to middle income families everywhere, economies and the people of the developing nations. The evolution of wireless technology in all it's forms(radio, cellular, microwave and satellite) offer a viable means of ensuring that the powerless in our community are not left behind while the rest of the world charges forward. Welcome to Wireless for the Powerless, my personal way of contributing to the conversation that is aimed at using wireless technology to empower underserved communities.