Link: Nokia expects to sell WiMAX cell phones in 2008 – washingtonpost.com
Nokia expects to start selling cell phones using the new WiMAX Internet technology in 2008, the world’s top handset maker said on Wednesday while unveiling network technology for WiMAX.
Soon I might not need to pay 36 pence a minute just to talk to someone on another mobile network, eh? I’m looking forward to the introduction of this kind of technology.
Now this is news.
A Wimax set up can be like putting an inexpensive Asterisk VOIP kit up and running and selling your own Telco service.
I can see a FON type model happening easily with Wimax.
If any of you are interested, do your research and you will see that Wimax will allow you to create several new business models and at the same time bite the ass of the existing Telco players in the market.
Oh Goody, the cost of technology is not the barrier to entry any more, It’s the guts you have to get into the business. So come on Guys/Gals, do your homework on Wimax and make the leap.
PS. I cannot leap at Wimax this precise moment but I have seed funds to put into this so get your ideas to Ewan.
I agree with what you said above, but (there is always a but) do you honestly believe that the cost of calls would drop greatly? I mean the likes of O2, Orange, 3 and T-mobile would never contemplate bringing out a phone where it is free to call. There are new Wi-Fi phones on the market now which you have to get on a £45 a month contract and get two minutes for the price of one (not so bad?) but they are in my opinion old phones with a new chip in them (they are really ugly). WiMax is a promising technology but dont build your hopes up and start investing as this may be like the wiFi boom, get your WiFi routers here for £1000 six weeks later £30. The conclusion save the money buy a nice car then get the new WiMax phone a year after, the people who invest in high technology are the people who take the high risk and often loose. BELIEVE ME
Why is WiMax supposed to be any cheaper than 3G?
HSBC’s investment arm did a thorough debunking of the whole WiMax myth a year ago, and it still stands. To shift bits costs money. WiMax costs the same as 3G to shift the same bits the same distance/speed. WiMax will not operate any more effectively in ‘free’ spectrum than WiFi does. The Tradgedy Of The Commons rule still applies – the firstcomers might have a good time, but then it all falls apart. look at Google’s metro WiFi Albatross in SF, or Portland, Oregon’s Muni-Fi operation.
The laws of physics still aply to WiMax, you still need loads of base stations (rent, site acquisition, regulatory, legal challenges), power (£), backhaul (££), and, oh yeah, hand£ets.
3G gets scale economies that WiMax will never reach, ever. 11M subs globally by 2010? Nokia probably doesn’t get out of bed for less than 20M units.
WiMax handsets will cost a fortune, and will have coverage you could fit into the boot of an Astra.