What does WiMax mean for development

Intel has announced its WiMax products and other companies are quickly following suit. WiMax is wireless networking that offers speeds up to 70 Mbps with close to 50 kilometer range. In contrast, WiFi, the most widely used wireless networking technology, offers speeds up to 54 Mbps with ranges of 75-100 meters. WiFi range can be extended with additional antennas, quite significantly in some cases, up to several kilometers. But, these are generally directional “line of sight” antennas, meaning that any potential user will have to have a direct unobstructed view of the antenna that they are connecting through. This is of course not very practical for rural use, for instance, except maybe here in the flat midwest plains of the US ; ).
In the words of Scott Richardson, GM of Intel’s broadband wireless division, “There are places on the planet that may never actually see cable and DSL.” This will certainly be the case and, I think, has always been assumed would be the case. The possibilities that this opens up for developing countries are numerous. What the actual impact is and when it happens remains to be seen. I certainly hope that something does happen and that it happens soon.