During his keynote address at the Next Generation Networks in Boston, Charles Giancarlo, the chief technology officer
of Cisco Systems Inc., heavily criticized WiMax technology saying that by the time it hits the marketplace, service
providers won’t invest in it, and that ultra wideband (UWB) is a better alternative.
”Other than providing the backbone infrastructure that may be behind any WiMax deployment, Cisco is not invested
in WiMax,” says Giancarlo. “DSL and cable are [already] there, and they are much more deterministic.”
Giancarlo says third-generation wireless technology will already be deployed by the time WiMax hits the streets,
and he doesn’t see service providers spending on both: “Why would anyone build two parallel [wireless broadband]
networks? Perhaps it will provide a better technology for hotspots like airports, but I still maintain that the case
for WiMax is challenging at the moment.”
Several attendees here agreed with Giancarlo’s point that WiMax won’t be driven by home networking. “I agree that
home networking is not the compelling application for WiMax,” says Weiyee In, global technology strategist for
TerraNova Institutional, a Chicago-based brokerage. “Its compelling application is to be the wireless metro-area
network. What Intel has done with notebooks and WiFi — they are going to do the same with WiMax.”
