More Benefits of WiMax: Fewer Towers, No Lines

Last month, I posted about the rollout of Europe’s first WiMax network in Amsterdam. Just after my post, Sprint announced that it will be deploying WiMax service starting in September. Now, more of the details have been released.

WiMax uses fewer towers than 3G systems. But getting fast data connections to those towers was a problem. A 1.5Mbps T1 line is inadequate for hundreds of users trying to download at 2Mbps or more. So, Sprint is getting rid of the lines altogether. Instead, ultrafast, 99.999% reliable 1.6Gbps microwave connections will link the towers to Sprint’s backbone wirelessly.

Yet another example of technological innovation rendering old environmental concerns less of an issue – while creating a new paradigm for mobile Internet to boot.