Broadband for Everyone?

Soon WiMax is coming to Germany and will become more wide-spread. And for many, it is considered to be one more shortcut through the communications jungle.

German officials are already planning to sell off frequencies for WiMAX later this year. They have to: because of the high number of applications -- 1,221 from 102 businesses, it is the only way possible to handle and distribute them, they say.

But what exactly is WiMAX? According to experts, it is the new industry standard for wireless broadband Internet access. The new technology makes it possible to reach higher data transmission speeds. It is comparable with WLAN (wireless LAN) but its transmission area and speeds are even higher. Its coverage area can reach 50 kilometers and its data transmission, 70 megabytes per second.

"High-end users can only get about 10 megabytes and the average customer about 2," said Marcus Schaffrin of eco, a network of German internet companies whose goal is to improve and increase the commercial use of the Internet in order to strengthen the German economy. "That isn't attractive anymore."

Experts say that the ideal coverage area is 15 kilometers. In a city, one kilometer is more realistic. But compared to WLAN, even that it has a range of 100 meters is considerable.

"I believe that it will be about five years before it really gets going in Germany," said Schaffrin.

Moving forward slowly

These days, mobile internet access on laptops is a dream come true. The so-called WLAN hotspots have been around for a while and in Germany, number more than 8,000. And even though these have been accepted, they are not that easy to use, particularly because of their limited coverage-area and obstacles that disrupt the network.

Then would it be possible with WiMAX, to ride a bus or a train and still remain connected to the Internet? Maybe. So far, the mobile access on the ICE trains are not particularly good. German Rail is currently experimenting with different technologies such as WLAN and WiMAX on its line between Cologne and Dortmund.

"Still, with the ICE, which races at 280 km per hour, one comes up against realities and limitations of technology," said Schaffrin.

Schaffrin says that this new system is going to be particularly great for those who have really until now only been able to use a modem or ISDN for their Internet access.

"For five million households in Germany, broadband in the form of DSL is not possible because of where they live," he said. "The infrastructure doesn't exist."

Bridging gaps

For example, in Kaiserslautern, Internet provider Accor is already beginning a pilot project because 20,000 out of 50,000 households are without DSL access.

In Berlin, a similar project is concentrating on small and medium-sized businesses.

Schaffrin says that this new technology will be able to bridge other gaps. It will allow users other alternatives for network providers, which until 10 years ago, was pretty much a monopoly in Germany. That had a negative effect, suppressing competition, and with it, innovation. That led Germany to compare unfavorably with its neighbors in Internet technology and options for consumers.

"At the end of it all, the goal is that broadband is possible for everyone," he said. "For most customers, it isn't important how it works, only that it does and that it is fast and cheap. Indeed, that is something we all want."