Coming Soon To An Internet Near You: WiMax

WiMax is the next generation of the Internet — and it’s finally here and growing fast.

That was the assessment of morning speakers on the opening day of WiMax World 2008 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

Thousands of industry participants, vendors and the media gathered in a packed Skyline Ballroom to hear from several industry leaders in the general session portion of Wednesday’s program before highly technical sessions in the afternoon.

WiMax is a Wi-Fi-like broadband wireless signal — only instead of a hot spot a few hundred feet in diameter, WiMax is a powerful signal from a tall broadcast tower, reaching as far as a TV or FM radio station.

Brege Ayvazian, chief strategy officer at Yankee Group and event co-chair, said the good news is that WiMax has “several mobile operating networks now that are commercial, generating cash flow, attracting customers, and paving the way for 4G,” the shorthand term for fourth-generation wireless services like mobile HDTV.

Read more: wwj.com