For IT-enabled businesses, connectivity plays an important role. In fact,Internet is providing a means for people to stay connected with the rest of the world, be it for academic purpose or job opportunities. Lack of Internet infrastructure can be a big hindrance for the overall development of any economy. However, the advent of wireless technologies offers potential for widespread, affordable connectivity to each and every village across India. With WiMAX, broadband services have become cost-effective, providing broader band width and higher speeds at the same time. This has been helping a wide range of industries. For instance, the broadband Internet can render services like education more accessible by delivering interactive distance education at low cost.
The Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (popularly known as WiMAX) is a wireless digital communications system. It is intended for wireless "metropolitan area networks". The technology provides broadband wireless access up to 50 km for fixed stations, and 5 to 15 km for mobile stations, while the Wi-Fi (wireless local area network) provides the access to only 30_100 meters. The WiMAX Forum formed in June 2001, defines WiMAX as a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)". The forum says, "WiMAX is not a technology, but rather a certification mark, or `stamp of approval' given to equipment that meets certain conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 802.16 family (standard defines the technical features of the communications protocol) of standards. Neither WiMAX nor Wi-Fi is a technology but their names have been adopted in popular usage to denote the technologies behind them. This is likely due to the difficulty of using terms like `IEEE 802.16' in common speech and writing".
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