update SINGAPORE--Compared to mesh technology, WiMax is a better platform to extend the coverage of the country's national broadband backbone that provides free Internet access to it citizens, according to a senior executive at Intel.
Speaking to reporters at the local launch of Santa Rosa--Intel's latest iteration of Centrino--Patrick Liew, Intel's country manager for Singapore, noted that mesh networking was eventually chosen to deploy the Wireless@SG network due to timeline constraints.
However, Liew said, service providers involved in the nation-wide wireless network are starting to feel the heat of the limitations of the mesh technology.
"I believe if you talk to any of the [Wireless@SG] providers now, what they are finding difficult is [supporting] the pervasiveness... How do you provide a service that is more pervasive than it is now?" Liew noted.
"Eventually, they are going to 10,000 [wireless] access points, [and] they're going to have difficulty in the management [of these devices]…so, something like WiMax is probably [a platform] that will interest them."
An IDA spokesperson told ZDNet Asia that while other wireless technologies such as WiMax, HSDPA and 3G "potentially provide more extensive coverage", Wi-Fi was deployed in the initial phase of Wireless@SG as it is a " widely-established and used standard for wireless connectivity globally".
"WiMax is expected to be available for widespread commercial rollout only from 2008, while the mobile technologies will take some time to reach critical mass in terms of end user devices and enjoy economies of scale for consumer pricing," said the IDA spokesperson. "The IDA recognizes that true nation-wide, pervasive wireless connectivity can only be achieved progressively as wireless technologies mature."
WiMax is expected to begin taking off in the Asia-Pacific region this year, according to IDC. Across the region, WiMax is slowly making its presence felt, with trials underway in several countries, including Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Meanwhile, South Korea has chosen to leapfrog 'fixed' WiMax to adopt the mobile variant of WiMax. Two of its telecom operators, SK Telecom and Korea Telecom, have launched commercial services of WiBro--known internationally as mobile WiMax--in its capital, Seoul.
On whether the chip maker plans to include WiMax capabilities in its refresh of the Santa Rosa platform, Gary Willihnganz, general manager of Asia-Pacific marketing for Intel's Branding Promotions and Marketing Group, said: "The WiMax technology is going to be different across all the different markets."
He added that the United States is "experimenting and piloting with WiMax more aggressively, [and as such], you'll see us come out with more robust solutions in the 2008 time period and really start a broader adoption [of the technology]."
Sprint Nextel, the third largest mobile operator in the United States, announced in August last year that it would spend US$3 billion over the next two years to build a fourth-generation wireless network using WiMax technology.
However, the timeline to roll out the technology across the region will vary by country, Willihnganz said, adding that Intel is already conducting pilots of WiMax across a "handful of countries" in the Asia-Pacific, particularly in Southeast Asia.
"Today's Santa Rosa platform does support modules that have WiMax capability built with Intel chips…but for the most part, those are on trial basis," said S. Ramaprasad, regional marketing manager for mobile platforms for Intel Asia. According to Ramaprasad, a user of a Santa Rosa platform-equipped notebook would be able to tap into any of the WiMax networks that are being piloted across Asia with an optional WiMax card based on the Intel chip.
"As we go into 2008, you'll start to see a much broader adoption of that technology, and I think that our roadmap will definitely get there in time for mass adoption," Ramaprasad said.
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