It's Friday, November 9, 2007, and welcome back to Good Day, BWIA, a light compendium of news, items of interest, irreverent commentary, and occasional light analysis relating to Broadband Wireless Internet Access (including WiMAX, public access Wi-Fi, etc.).
Sprint Nextel has Clearwire right where Clearwire wants them Last night the Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint Nextel and Clearwire have called off their proposed agreement to jointly build out a new, nationwide Broadband Wireless Internet Access network based on Mobile WiMAX technology. My take - this is just posturing, or more likely fumbling on the part of Sprint Nextel as they flail around trying to find a new CEO who can spin a good enough story to Sprint Nextel's board and shareholders that Sprint and Nextel's glory days can be restored. 1) Ain't gonna happen, 2) Sprint Nextel is under the gun, as a result of conditions it agreed to as part of the Sprint / Nextel merger, to actually deploy new services in its combined 2.5 GHz spectrum. Or else. 3) Clearwire's got the backing and vision to actually go build a nationwide Mobile WiMAX network; Sprint doesn't have a fraction of that vision and to do so, it's going to have to actively fight its most activist shareholders... riiiggghhhttt. Sprint will spin it, of course, but in the end Clearwire's going to end up with Sprint's 2.5 GHz spectrum. Sliding further out on my limb... my guess for Sprint Nextel's new CEO? Craig McCaw. Oops... he's already spoken for with Clearwire? Well, that problem is easily solved with the simple expedient of Sprint Nextel acquiring Clearwire. You heard it here first.
Today's Clearwire Modem Weather Report - Hollywood Hill, Woodinville, Washington - again Solid 3 Bars. Chilly and foggy again today, and the wet foliage and damp air is apparently attenuating 2.5 - 2.7 GHz RF.
Argh... now I really hate that I wasn't in Silicon Valley on Wednesday night! John Murrell, of Good Morning Silicon Valley, which I prominently cite as an inspiration for GDBWIA, posted a stellar recounting, rich with links, of the 30th anniversary of the first TCP-based transmission between three dissimilar networks - widely regarded as the first true Internet connection that included a van, loaded with the latest technology (including two packet radios. As a (rabid, at one point) Amateur Packet Radio operator, a "pretty early" Internet user circa 1984'ish, and something of a network geek who is in awe of the elegant simplicity and robustness of TCP/IP (it even works over crappy 1200 baud Amateur Packet Radio links - really!)... damn, I really, really wish I could have been there. Someone... please post videos on YouTube or something.
Amusing-looking Forbes wireless article that they won't let me read I spotted the following in Google News - Radio Google, Forbes, A slice of air this thin isn't very high in capacity--millions of city dwellers sucking up youtube videos could swamp it--but it's well suited to offer national coverage for wireless broadband. Google told the FCC in July that it would bid at least ... When I tried to read it, I was redirected to a clueless-as-the-New-York-Times registration screen. Articles about wireless in Forbes are unfailingly amusing, but rarely offer good, informed information about wireless issues (though they used to), so I'm not particularly motivated to "register" for the "privilege" of seeing this particular article. Although Mark Anderson of Strategic News Service (one of my "must-read"s - highly recommended!) doesn't mention this particular cluelessness, he did rate Forbes.Com as 4th worst of The Ten Most Abusive Websites in his July 5th newsletter, stating (excerpted) This is the ultimate showcase of Old Media abuse. ... Forbes has managed to assemble several of these inane abuses, to the point that I felt it deserved its own special spot on our Top Ten list. Hint to those clued-in enough to be using Firefox - use NoScript, and here's why.
Interesting read from Network World 5 Cool Wireless Research Projects Worth Checking Out
The Philadelphia experiment: Making muni Wi-Fi work Now that's an inspired piece of headline writing :-) and a good article at MuniWireless.Com about the progress of the high-profile Philadelphia Metropolitan Wi-Fi network.
The consumer/SMB and mobile satellite businesses continued to be the key contributors to our revenue growth. ... Revenue from our mobile satellite business showed a strong 74% growth in the third quarter of 2007 over the third quarter of 2006. Hughes Network Services, LLC 3Q 2007 results. Broadband Wireless Internet Access via satellite is getting interesting again as new satellites and improved technology (faster, better, cheaper RF and processing chipsets for the "user terminals"). I'd love to dive into what... exactly... is "mobile satellite" besides the marine communications satellite radomes I see on larger, pricier boats and every ship?
Fine Print / Boilerplate / Acknowledgements / Credits / FAQs (Last updated 2007-11-06)
This article is Copyright © 2007 by Steve Stroh except for specifically-marked excerpts. Excerpts and links are expressly permitted (and encouraged).
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