Russia. Comstar and Intel will partner in the deploy of a WiMax solution, initially in Moscow. Comstar will provide the necessary network infrastructure support. Intel to provide the necessary integration and CPE expertise on the mobile side. –

In an effort to bring people faster, lower cost and a truly mobile, data broadband technology, Comstar, Russia’s leading telecomm provider, and Intel Corporation today announced a collaboration to develop mobile WiMAX in Russia.

The joint effort will initially focus on building a city-wide mobile WiMAX network in Moscow. Comstar plans to use its 2.5-2.7Ghz spectrum footprint in the city to build the network and is targeting its commercial launch for late 2008. Intel will drive an ecosystem of the client devices with embedded WiMAX solutions.

Press Release.

Primer. For those of a inquisitive bent you might want to go over to this Wikipedia listing and take a look at what is possible with WiMax. Now in Korea they call it WiBro (Wireless Broadband), natch. Why should you take a look? Well at a minimum they are three years ahead of the US in deployment let alone the R&D.

Oh and by the way, over there it’s $22/month for 30Mbps+. Ah hum. That’s what we pay for DSL here.

In a National Health Interview it was discovered that some 13% of the households use no land line for communications. The profile of the people in this subgroup were — likely to be smokers and/or binge drinkers.

The federal government estimates that one of every eight American homes uses only mobile phones for communications.

The data comes from the National Health Interview Survey, which was conducted between January and June of this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. The government noted that the number of wireless-only households has been steadily increasing since 2003 and now accounts for 13.6% of households.

Researchers found that more than 55% of all adults living with unrelated roommates relied solely on cellphones, and noted that this is the “highest prevalence rate among the population subgroups examined.”

I would not be surprised if employment applications start asking if you only use a cell phone as a phone service. Might show up as a ‘bad habit’ for particular age groups. Ouch!

Linky.

Well we stumbled across this interesting beastie. It takes certain Verizon or Sprint cellular device and permits one to turn it into a wifi hotspot. Now is a WiFi connection at USB speeds interests you this little jewel may fit your ticket.

But is it worth $180 to you for this capability? Vendor’s website here.

Here’s a snapshot of the overseas action on the WiMax front:

Hong Kong

KOWLOON. The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (“OFTA”) announced yesterday that it will accelerate the auction of 2.5 GHz spectrum to the fourth quarter of 2008, allowing for the introduction of WiMAX services to Hong Kong and its 426 square mile territory.

Previously OFTA had said that the 2.5 GHz frequency band would not be auctioned until 2009 or 2010. The 2.5 GHz auction now will be combined with an auction of 2.3 GHz spectrum for Broadband Wireless Access Services (BWA), which already had been planned for Q4 2008.

The impetus for accelerating the auction of 2.5 GHz spectrum is that the World Radio Conference admitted WiMAX into the IMT family of technologies last month. A spokesman at OFTA said “we decided it was time to end the debate and offer this spectrum for WiMAX.”

UK

We have an insatiable appetite for information, in all its guises. Whether for business or personal, commercial or recreational, does not really matter. What matters is its availability. It seems we want to be able to access everything, at any time, from any place.

Which means there is an increased need to provide high bandwidths to mobile subscribers - and to do it wirelessly.

Italy

The government plans to auction 35 licenses for WiMAX, a super-fast wireless broadband that can reach areas not connected by traditional broadband networks.
Analysts said earlier this year they expected the sale of the Italian licenses to generate between 100 million euros ($146.6 million) and 200 million euros for the Italian state, far below the billions gained from the sale of 3G mobile phone licenses at the peak of the high-tech boom.
WiMAX, short for wireless interoperability for microwave access, is a medium-range sibling of the popular Wi-Fi technology. It can be beamed over kilometers rather than meters.

Middle East

‘We believe this technology will be very attractive to operators in the region since it will allow them to un-tap portions of the market that so far have not been served because their business case was not profitable,’ comments Federico Membrillera, Partner at Delta Partners.

‘In addition, Wimax will bring new competitors to the fixed line space and will unlock nothing less than a true broadband revolution. It will put the Middle East right up there with western markets - in a same way as it happened with mobile telephony.’

India

People in rural Bangladesh work their land from dawn till dusk and women devote themselves to household chores. It is plain lifestyle, away from the daily hubbub of city life. This bucolic simplicity, however, does not exclude the residents from their right to know.

ICT helps villagers access the information they need. Information important to them is disseminated from a place commonly known as telecentre. Several organisations, including GrameenPhone, have already implemented telecentres in some parts of the country.

Now all of them are unified under an umbrella organisation called Bangladesh Telecentre Network (BTN) to strengthen their capacity as well as speed up the process to incorporate ICT in rural life.

India

VSNL has finally decided to ring up global markets and has charted out plans to enter into 20 new countries in Europe, Africa and Asia over the next one year.

The company will be spending almost half of its $500 million capex on the international business.

But the company is also on the prowl looking actively for an acquisition target in the technology space and is willing to spend upto half a billion dollars for it.

Canada

OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwire - Dec. 6, 2007) - Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX:WIN) (”Wi-LAN”), a leading technology licensing company, today announced that it has signed a license for Canadian Patent No. 2,179,474 with Acer Incorporated of Taiwan. The license contemplates the payment of a running royalty for the life of the patent through 2016, and includes provision for payment of past sales in Canada.

Ranked as the world’s No. 4 branded PC vendor, Acer focuses on globally marketing its brand-name products: mobile and desktop PCs, servers and storage, LCD monitors and high-definition TVs, projectors, and handheld/navigational devices. Established in 1976, Acer Inc. employs 5,300 people supporting dealers and distributors in more than 100 countries. Revenues in 2006 reached US$11.32 billion.

WiMax on the Move.

Well the BBC, the major media outlet that broke the whole Orson Wells like scare about WiFi emissions; is now back tracking. But you know outlets like the BBC roar like a lion when they are right but wimper like a puppy in saying they were wrong –

…the programme included only one contributor (Prof Repacholi) who disagreed with Sir William, compared with three scientists and a number of other speakers (one of whom was introduced as a former cancer specialist) who seconded his concerns. This gave a misleading impression of the state of scientific opinion on the issue. In addition, Prof Repacholi’s contribution was presented in a context which suggested to viewers that his scientific independence was in question, whereas the other scientists were presented uncriticaly. This reinforced the misleading impression, and was unfair to Prof Repacholi.

The complaint watchdog could have gone much further. The “other scientists” who were so uncritically presented, are people who really have no more right to be taken seriously as experts in the field than is the Editor of NewsWireless. They are, of course, entitled to have an opinion! - but the decision to present that opinion as representing any scientific research or consensus, was rightly pilloried by many commentators.

It is the continuing saga of our times. Those that are media increasingly know the HOW to produce the news but lack the simplest of WHAT truly is news. What’s worse in their rush to become professions their BS detectors have been deactivated. There has been a long body of work done on cellphones and thier affect on the body. The results on the whole are inconclusive. Use of a cellphone is the most intimate of RF exposure, yet the jury is still out? Yet exposure to WiFi RF where you are from 5 to 50′ from the AP is a greater danger?

Tip of the hat to NewWireless.net for the report. Linky.

Clearwire has expanded into Charlotte, NC. From the press release –

“Clearwire is changing the way Charlotte consumers connect online and with one another by offering an advanced wireless broadband-connection process coupled with portability and great customer service,” says Curtis Heffelfinger, Clearwire’s general manager in Charlotte. “The service will free users from broadband access that is location-based, allowing residents to access high-speed Internet wirelessly across the city.”

Clearwire’s wireless modems are now available at kiosks in two Charlotte malls (South Park and Carolina Place), as well as online at Clearwire.com.

Maybe Clearwire ought to just buy Sprints effort out and just do it. Too bad their balance sheet is a little low on cash right now.

Linky.

In a move sure to surprise Sprint’s CEO is considering a spin off of the WiMax effort as an independent entity. The purpose — to attract investors.

Well it might work. But I have to tell you the credit markets are in total turmoil right now. Investors are looking for stability not adventures.

Linky.

Popular Mechanics has a very interesting piece on Google’s GDrive. The core of the article is a discussion with security –

Leaving files exclusively on a virtual drive or data cloud could, eventually, usher in a new era of computing where mobile devices replace large, clunky desktops sitting in offices and homes. A virtual drive means that your cellphone, MP3 player and laptop all draw from the same data and sync with one another seamlessly. Take a photo on your camera, and it’s ready to be retrieved by your laptop to edit. Create a spreadsheet on your laptop, then add to it on your cellphone during your next train ride. The Gdrive looks like it will take a quantum leap in that direction—whether you like it or not. “

First a little background. Most readers have probably heard of Gmail. We use it here at ThirdPipe. I use it personally as well. But many are not aware that then Gmail went thru a second update that Google provided the ability to use the free space on the Gmail account for drive storage. For example if you use Firefox or Mozilla there are applets that available to utilize that space online. Google “GSpace” for the applet. GSpace as a public offering will happen in in 2008 from all accounts.
More on The Cloud, Google, the Future, PM’s View

An interesting series of interviews with Tom Mitoraj Director of WiMax development at Motorola. The rest of the world seems to be going gangbusters for WiMax. Here in the US its stillborn.

Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.

Content compliments of MidWestBusiness.com.