Europe's first mobile WiMAX goes online
WorldMax has launched Europe's first mobile WiMax deployment, covering the centre of Amsterdam so that coffee-shop dwellers can surf the web without puzzling over plugs and wires, once they've got their PC-card connected.
The deployment, which is being run by Alcatel-Lucent and part-financed by Intel, is operating in 80MHz of spectrum provided by Enertel, at around 3.5GHz. Apparently it offers speeds "comparable to broadband" for €20 a month. The network conforms to the 802.11e standard for mobile WiMax, so should be useable from a car, or a bicycle.
Right now the coverage is limited to within the Amsterdam ring road, but Chief Executive Jeanine van der Vlist is promising a country-wide network of 3000 base stations, and apparently has the money to make that happen.
3000 base stations might seem like a lot, especially in such a small country lacking in the kind of signal-blocking terrain that causes problems elsewhere. But KPN, the mobile operator, has almost 4000* base stations for their 2G GSM network in the country, and is operating at 900 and 1800MHz.
Logic would dictate that the much-higher frequency WorldMax is going to need a lot more than 3000 base stations if they're going to provide any kind of ubiquity of coverage - which will be necessary if they really want to compete with the mobile networks.