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ABSTRACT
In recent years, Broadband technology has rapidly become an established, global commodity required by a high percentage of the population.DSL operators, who initially focused their deployments in densely-populated urban and metropolitan areas, are now challenged to provide broadband services in suburban and rural areas where new markets are quickly taking root. Governments are prioritizing broadband as a key political objective for all citizens to overcome the “broadband gap” also known as “digital divide”.
Wireless DSL (WDSL) offers an effective, complementary solution to wire line DSL, allowing DSL operators to provide broadband service to additional areas and populations that would otherwise find them outside the broadband loop. Government regulatory bodies are realizing the inherent worth in wireless technologies as a means for solving digital-divide challenges in the last mile and have accordingly initiated a deregulation process in recent years for both licensed and unlicensed bands to support this application. Recent technological advancements and the formation of a global standard and interoperability forum - WiMAX, set the stage for WDSL to take a significant role in the broadband market. Revenues from services delivered via Broadband Wireless Access have already reached $323 million and are expected to jump to $1.75 billion.
INTRODUCTION
WiMax delivers broadband to a large area via towers, just like cell phones. This enables your laptop to have high-speed access in any of the hot spots. Instead of yet another cable coming to your home, there would be yet another antenna on the cell-phone tower. This is definitely a point towards broadband service in rural areas. First get the signal to the area, either with a single cable (instead of one to each user) or via a point-to-point wireless system. Then put up a tower or two, and the whole area is online. This saves the trouble of digging lots of trenches, or of putting up wires that are prone to storm damage.
However there is one promising technology that still uses cables to deliver a broadband signal to, well, wherever. It doesn't require laying any new wires (like cable Internet), and it doesn't require overhauling a lot of existing systems (like DSL).It's BPL: (broadband over power lines). The signal, like those power lines, can travel a long way thanks to "regenerators" that not only pass the data along, but clean the signal so it doesn't degrade over distance. That means the signal can travel as long as the lines do.
WiMAX is revolutionizing the broadband wireless world, enabling the formation of a global mass-market wireless industry. Putting the WiMAX revolution in the bigger context of the broadband industry, this paper portrays the recent acceleration stage of the Broadband Wireless Access market, determined by the need for broadband connectivity and by the following drivers:
A) The worldwide deregulation process
B) The standardization progression; and
C) Revolutionary wireless technology.
CREATING NEW OPPERTUNITIES ON THE HORIZON
A major driver impacting the broadband wireless explosion is the advent of global telecom deregulation, opening up the telecommunications/Internet access industries to a host of new players. As more and more countries enable carriers and service providers to operate in a variety of frequencies, new and lucrative broadband access markets are springing up everywhere. Wireless technology requires the use of frequencies contained within a given spectrum to transfer voice and data. Governments allocate a specific range of that spectrum to incumbent and competitive carriers, as well as cellular operators, ISPs, and other service providers, enabling them to launch a variety of broadband initiatives based exclusively on wireless networking solutions.
There are two main types of spectrum allocation: licensed and unlicensed.
 Licensed frequencies are typically awarded through an auction or “beauty contest” to those who present the soundest business plans to the regulatory authorities overseeing the process.
 Unlicensed frequencies allow multiple service providers to utilize the same section of the spectrum and compete with each other for customers.
OVERVIEW OF THE 802.16 IEEE STANDARDS
The 802.16 standard, amended by the IEEE to cover frequency bands in the range between 2 GHz and 11 GHz, specifies a metropolitan area networking protocol that will enable a wireless alternative for cable, DSL and T1 level services for last mile broadband access, as well as providing backhaul for 801.11 hotspots.
The new 802.16a standard specifies a protocol that among other things supports low latency applications such as voice and video, provides broadband connectivity without requiring a direct line of sight between subscriber terminals and the base station (BTS) and will support hundreds if not thousands of subscribers from a single BTS. The standard will help accelerate the introduction of wireless broadband equipment into the marketplace, speeding up last-mile broadband deployment worldwide by enabling service providers to increase system performance and reliability while reducing their equipment costs and investment risks.
For the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) market and its 802.16 standard, this role is played by the WiMAX. WiMAX is instrumental in removing the barrier in adopting the standard by assuring demonstrable interoperability between system components developed by OEMs. WiMAX will develop conformance and interoperability test plans, select certification labs and will host interoperability events for IEEE 802.16 equipment vendors.