Intel vient de lancer le premier produit WiMAX. Cette nouvelle technologie wireless devrait permettre d’installer des connexions sans fil à haut débit sur des distances beaucoup plus grandes que WiFi. Il sera testé par fournisseurs d’accès (dont Altitude Telecom en France) et fabricants de matériel.
Mais il ne s’agit bien que d’un premier pas qui permet d’établir une liaison entre un point d’accès fixe et un édifice déterminé où le signal doit être distribué pour permettre l’accès des usagers. Cela devrait prendre encore un an pour le moins selon le San Jose Mercury.
Le communiqué d’Intel précise que :
WiMAX, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a standards-based wireless technology for providing high-speed, last-mile broadband connectivity to homes and businesses and for mobile wireless networks. Intel’s WiMAX silicon delivers the features needed to provide cost-effective, high-speed wireless modems for homes and businesses. Initial deployments will enable delivery of broadband Internet access to remote areas not currently served by DSL or cable, and will make it possible to wirelessly connect buildings up to several miles apart.
L’article du San Jose Mercury pour sa part nous signale que:
[…] getting the first WiMax product out the door doesn’t bring the long-awaited miles-long « hot zones » that would allow users to wirelessly surf the Internet on high-speed connections. That could take at least another year.The spread of WiMax would enable service providers to sell wireless broadband connections in areas that are currently not served by DSL or cable Internet technology.Intel’s new WiMax chip set allows the Internet signal to reach out over longer distances, creating a « fixed connection » between a base station and a specific building. The next step would be to create a hot zone by distributing the signal over a wider area, allowing for mobile Web surfing.
