WiMax takes off in Amsterdam

WiMax has long been seen as a potential competitor to cellular-based data networks, allowing a combination of high speeds and reasonable range.  Plus roaming between access points is supposed to be way easier to manage than normal WiFi connections.  Of course, it also requires a whole new infrastructure to be built out and it isn’t backwards compatible with other technologies such as WiFi, so it is a bit of a hard sell to drive adoption.  Still, companies are developing solutions.  Sprint has been working on their XOHM network for a while now, with a launch expected any day now or in several months, depending on who is giving statements to the press on any given day.

Things like this seem to take off more quickly in Europe, with more densely populated cities and a populace generally more willing to adopt the new technologies.  And so it is that Amsterdam was the target of a WiMax network launch this week.  With access priced at 20 Euro per month and unlimited download capacity the offering is priced lower than most other broadband options, so they’ve got a chance to take over a decent market share.  At the same time, however, the company’s management acknowledges that unless they are able to expand their coverage area and their subscriber base pretty significantly that they won’t be able to stick around too long.