MMMMMax Head- HeadRoom? No, its WiMax -Stutter Optional.

Those who have been long time readers of this blog will know my fascination with Sprint's WiMax plans.  True mobile broadband has remarkable potential not just for content on the go but to provide seamless content which can travel from mobile to home theater with the click of a docking station.

Sprint had some issues garnering any real productive support from partnerships, all while declaring WiMax a true 4G mobile standard.  The declaration irked the wireless telecom industry standards organization who would only comment that WiMax was to be viewed as a building block not and end unto itself for 4G.

Then the news stalled for awhile.

In the last week or so a number of article have started to show a revised plan and possible industry support.  There is also talk of spinning off the WiMax into a separate company. 

On the positive side there is the showing of a WiMax enabled Tablet PC from Nokia -(due out this summer)

Nokia Tablet to Use Sprint WiMax Network

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Wireless-Show-WiMax.html?ex=1364875200&en=fc218dd7d0ea2e58&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Then there are the partnerships, however limited - Comcast in is $1 billion while TW is at $500 million-which are viable as they have a great deal to gain if the plan is a success. 

Comcast and Time Warner to Bankroll WiMax Joint Venture

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9903411-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Cable company interest may not be the first entities one would think to partner with a wireless phone system but further thought shows it to be a great tactical move if it succeeds.  Phone and Cable companies have been making in roads into the others main market for the last few years-(cable offering VoIP while phone companies now offer cable like media content on their land lines).  Cable companies see WiMax -(as well as the 700MHz band just sold off and the 'White Spaces' proposals) as taking the fight back to the wired Telecoms.  The hope is to establish WiMax into what the now failed Muni-Fi system promised but failed to deliver though less then stellar data rates and some community resistance.  On its face WiMax broadband opens the market for a host of devices -iphone like- whose central function is Internet access with voice as a secondary feature. What has only been hinted at is the ability to use this backbone to provide real-time video services; this is what the cable companies want.   Imagine having access to the baseball game whilst on the bus, subway or at the Cafe.  Add to this the ability to pull up Internet for stats, twitter chats or your fantasy baseball team progress, all at wired broadband speed.  In a cradle to grave metaphor the WiMax partners envision you taking this real time content all the way home and continuing to use their service as your primary content provider.  In a system concept similar to wireless video and the 802.11n standard, the hope is for the user to take their WiMax device and connect it to a monitor when home - never missing moment of the show and never having to switch to a land line provider.

And then the realities of rolling an actual system\devices brings us back to the daily grind:

Sprint Delays WiMax Roll-out, Again

http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/04/sprints-xohm-de.htm

Plans are now for a summer 08 roll out but by delaying the commercial start this will allow for the hype generated by AT&T and Verizon to begin to influence corporate planners.

If any thing the WiMax concept and Mobile broadband interest rides along side the rise in demand  for mobile video content. I have long stated the Phil Swann Inverse Square Rule, Every time Mr. Swann -or someone on on his TV predictions forum- wonder aloud why anyone would want to view content on their iPhone type screens; the number of  consumers clamoring for it doubles.