Login:
Password:
Lost Password?
Return to CES Main Page

Topic: WiMAX vs. UMB vs. HSDPA

January 10, 2007, 10:28 PM

Posted in: Mobile broadband

The biggest and most active battle in consumer electronics may not be in the high-definition format space, since after all, the technologies there are pretty much decided - all that remains is an outcome. Indeed, the big battle is over whose technology will serve as the infrastructure for wireless broadband service. In the US, the big carriers are clearly choosing sides: Sprint Nextel is making a huge WiMAX push at CES, while Verizon - by virtue of having backed EV-DO all this time - is now the de facto supporter of Ultra-Mobile Broadband (UMB, the former EV-DO Rev. C), while Cingular stands squarely behind the upgrade to its services, which would bring its EDGE network up to the 4G specs of HSDPA.

Maybe if Internet broadband service were roughly the same, it shouldn't matter who picks what technology, if it ended up looking the same in the end to the consumer. But flexibility is key to winning customer appreciation, while at the same time, one of these technologies - probably not all three - will be key to the next generation of mobile computing platforms. Intel has an edge there, and can drive WiMAX adoption, but that doesn't mean every mobile computing platform in the foreseeable future has to be Centrino. This could be a big, long, brutal battle, with all the major players on a roughly equal footing.