Senthil pointed out to the launch of WiMax - a kind of Wi-Fi on steroids. WiMax can seamlessly deliver gobs of compressed data over the air good enough to beam a film miles away. If WiMax takes off,it could transform broadband by bringing high-speed service to millions more people around the globe, allowing Web surfers to roam at will and cutting subscription rates as new players pile into the market. WiMax, will be up to six times faster than existing broadband service in the U.S., will be used to bring high-speed Internet to homes and businesses that lack service. But in a couple of years, WiMax will go mobile, allowing people to download movies, games, and other content. For consumers, WiMax could shake up the broadband world by helping to eliminate the cable and DSL duopoly that dominates the market. That could lead to lower prices and higher speeds. Upstarts could use WiMax to break cheaply into incumbents' markets
Bob cringley writes, the big winners of WiMax revolution are probably BitTorrent users. From a logistical standpoint,WiMax can plop an access point into the middle of town, feed it with a DS3, and have the whole town broadband-ready in a few days. The reality behind the dream is that WiMax operates in several frequency bands, some unlicensed and some licensed. WiMax unlike WiFi needs substantial investments for getting frequency spectrum is already attracting into play telcos, mobile phone companies, long-distance phone companies. WiMax will provide broadband competition in a way that WiFi never could. - WiMax can be a broadband alternative to DSL and cable modems. Just as cable companies are jacking up their Internet speeds in an effort to keep customers from going to DSL, just as telcos are installing fiber-to-the-home to steal video customers - a third major competitor in the mix will only accelerate this trend. And if Power Line Internet becomes a reality it, too, will push service levels.
BitTorrent,sucking up 30 to 40 percent of all Internet bandwidth is an Open Source peer-to-peer file-sharing application that is popular for distributing huge video files because it cleverly uses the assistance of your client computer to help redistribute to other downloaders those parts of the file that you have already received.ISP's, movie studios, etc. hate BitTorrent. The ISPs hate it because of all that bandwidth sucking and the movie studios hate it because they think BitTorrent is being used to steal their property. Users will have the choice of DSL, cable, WiMax, and possibly Power Line Internet service. Average speeds may be slightly higher, average bills will be slightly lower, and the market will be perfectly poised for video-on-demand (more properly download-on-demand) to replace much of broadcast and cable television. The movie studios have finally realized that they can cut out the networks and the cable companies and sell or rent directly to customers for less money but more profit, the way they'll do that is by embracing BitTorrent. BitTorrent drops the studio cost of downloading movies from $0.50 or so to nothing at all. BitTorrent is more reliable and scalable than any movie studio web site will ever be. The competition from WiMax and other new broadband providers will force ISPs to be more open, that movie studios and others will realize BitTorrent can be an ideal distribution medium, and that ISPs - by localizing most Bit Torrent traffic - can make customers more happy This looks like a possible situation in future - serendipity in telecom and disintermediation in internet industry is nothing new!!
Category : WiMax
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