12/06/08: President-Elect Obama's Weekly Address from White House on Vimeo

"It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country that invented the internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they’ll get that chance when I’m President — because that’s how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world." (3:23 – 3:48) President-elect Barack Obama, Weekly Radio Address from the Office of the President-Elect, December 6, 2008.

Problem: Lagging Deployment of Broadband Access Networks

There is a strong and rapidly growing demand for broadband access on the part of consumers, businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations, as the Internet is used for new applications and services.

The introduction of new mobile devices, like the Apple iPhone 3G, and rapidly spreading social networking (Facebook) and media (YouTube) platforms, have the combined impact of an exponential growth in broadband demand.

The network must somehow catch up with the capabilities of related technologies, especially high definition television. According to the Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast (chart below), video will be responsible for the majority of the traffic growth between 2008 and 2013.

The Internet is likely to dramatically change over the next few years into a pipeline for streaming audio and video. This will be facilitated by the migration of existing networks to the new Internet Protocol (IPv6).

With the severe economic recession, solutions that are deployed quickly (with minimum infrastructure) and cost effectively (wireless networks) will take precedence.

As explained below, mobile WiMAX is ideally suited to expand broadband access into unserved, underserved and remote areas, as well as to increase capacities in primary markets.

The Cisco® Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update is an ongoing initiative to track and forecast the impact of visual networking applications. Source: Cisco Systems, Inc.

Solution: Wireless Broadband Access on Mobile WiMAX Networks

“WiMAX” (or the “Worldwide Interface for Microwave Access”) is a revolutionary and powerful form of wireless mobile Internet access technology developed by the world’s leading computer chip maker, Intel Corporation. Users can take their Internet access with them anywhere in WiMAX coverage zones around the world.

Mobile WiMAX enables a wide range of cost saving and convenient applications. Source: WMX Systems

Unlike Wi-Fi that covers a single building, or cellular data cards that offer a minimum in Internet speeds, WiMAX can serve an entire community at high speeds. WiMAX has been called “Wi-Fi on steroids,” since it has a much larger coverage area, enhanced security, and faster data rates.

WiMAX is a wireless technology that provides “mobile” Internet access – use your computer on the train, on the bus or in the car. Just as cell phones have freed us from having to be in the office to make or receive calls, wireless mobile WiMAX frees us from having to be in the office, school, or home to send or receive an email, view a website, pay a bill online, download music, etc.

WiMAX can be used with a range of devices to connect to the Internet, such as laptops, mobile, smart or VoIP phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation devices, or video surveillance cameras. WiMAX connects with any compliant device, anywhere in the coverage area, anytime.

WiMAX is designed to deploy a wide variety of wireless services. Source: NextNet Wireless. (2006)