Friday, January 14, 2011
Wireless is popular these days.  Let's face it, it's nice to have the freedom not to have to plug into a wall or a jack everytime you need connectivity.  I remember how cordless phones totally changed my adolescent dating life -- away from the parents for those very important saturday-night calls. 

You can go wireless on pretty much any personal device these days.  I can charge my cell phone wirelessly.  I can talk, text, and browse the web without cords.  I can even run my laptop wirelessly for a time, but cords are still needed to get juice back to the battery.  How long will it take before that's covered wirelessly?  My sound system is even wireless.  I have speakers throughout my living room without any cords attached. My desktop computer has all it's peripherals connected without wires at all. 

But how scalable is wireless connectivity?  As you begin to think higher -- beyond the connection of one office appliance to another to the connection of one office to another -- can wireless still work? 

A decade ago, the answer was no.  Today, however, businesses of all shapes and size are taking steps toward total wireless freedom.  The last mile -- the most expensive leg of the broadband network -- can now be completed wirelessly.  Offices and retail stores no longer need a copper cable from their business to the nearest trunk. 

What's next?  Will the wireless revolution continue to go higher up the chain?  I don't know.  To be honest, I too have a hard time believing that the billions of miles of copper and fiber lines in our terrestrial network will ever be totally supplanted by microwaves running hither and to.  But, 10 years ago, I'd have said the same thing about the last mile... and even my surround sound speakers for that matter. 

What will it take for the world to really be wireless?  I mean really... not just at the micro-level of independent terminals, but a macro broadband network that's wireless from end to end.  Is it possible?  Is it imaginable?

Labels: Fixed Wireless Broadband

posted by Unknown at 6:13 AM Link to this Article

Comments: