WiMAX in Seattle (Featuring Darth Vader)

The Emperor: Rise my friend. 
Darth Vader: The WiMAX will be completed on schedule.
The Emperor: You've done well, Lord Vader. And now I sense you wish to continue your search for WiMAX. 
Darth Vader:Yes, my Master.
The Emperor: Patience my friend. In time it will seek you out, and when it does, you must bring it before me. WiMAX has grown strong. Only together can we turn the city of Seattle into the largest point-to-multi-point wireless metropolitan area. 

Darth Vader: As you wish.
The Emperor:  Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.

So that conversation never really happened between the evil Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. However, the news broke today that WiMAX is making an appearance in Seattle, "marking the first time that a true, high-density, point-to-multipoint broadband wireless service will be deployed in a large metropolitan U.S. city. "

This is exciting news since, you know, I've been wondering when WiMAX would officially show up here in the States. Which reminds me, I ran out of push pins. Have to grab some more for my "Where in the World is WiMAX" map...in the interim, here is the release.

No Darths were involved with the deployment of this technology.

Seattle Space Needle Anchors Speakeasy Wireless Broadband Service, Defining WiMAX Future

Beaming from the Space Needle and other buildings in downtown Seattle, Speakeasy, a national broadband services company, today announced the largest of its kind WiMAX-class service, marking the first time that a true, high-density, point-to-multipoint broadband wireless service will be deployed in a large metropolitan U.S. city. Seattle is the first among several major cities in which Speakeasy will roll out their fixed wireless broadband service for businesses. Today, businesses are constrained by the limitations of legacy telecom companies' "last mile" choices from telco switching stations to businesses. Speakeasy's wireless broadband service provides a much-needed alternative, enabling businesses to receive secure, cost-effective, high-speed fixed wireless connectivity at any location in their wireless zone, installed in days versus weeks.

Speakeasy, an active member of the WiMAX Forum, has formed strategic relationships with Intel Corporation and Alvarion to create a state-of-the-art deployment to validate and define the future of WiMAX service for technology, coverage, scalability, application compatibility, and customer demand. The service uses Alvarion's base station and end user hardware, which is very compact and easy to install. Alvarion's state-of-the art wireless antenna and radio are small and can be affixed outside windows or indoors. Intel and Speakeasy are working together to promote cost-effective technology that supports IEEE 802.16-2004. By joining together with Alvarion and Intel, Speakeasy has combined the most advanced technology available to create a WiMAX-class deployment that lays the foundation for a true WiMAX future.

"Speakeasy is providing what the industry now needs -- a real-world, WiMAX equivalent service deployment that validates outstanding questions about density, reach, network efficiency, and economics," said Bruce Chatterley, Speakeasy president and CEO. "We are bringing world class companies together in a market that experts agree is the toughest testbed for wireless communications."
"Alvarion shares Speakeasy's vision for using wireless broadband in large cities -- especially in cities with difficult terrain such as Seattle. This deployment is a precursor to true WiMAX services," said Amir Rosenzweig, president of Alvarion, Inc. "Combining our state-of-the-art hardware with Speakeasy's industry-leading network creates a template for major U.S. cities as we together lead the market to WiMAX."

Speakeasy chose Seattle as the first site for its WiMAX-class service deployment since its challenging combination of weather, terrain, bodies of water, and dense building skyline make it one of the most difficult deployments of wireless communications in the country. Success in Seattle will not only mean easy adoption in other, less challenging geographies, but will also demonstrate to the industry that WiMAX service can be deployed in the most treacherous of wireless environments. The Space Needle, along with other selected sites including the Westin Building, will beam secure and scalable broadband to thousands of business locations in Seattle's urban core.

"WiMAX has the potential to bring broadband, wirelessly, to many more users," said Scott Richardson, general manager of Intel's Broadband Wireless Division. "With this unique deployment, Speakeasy is demonstrating how effectively WiMAX can be used in challenging environments to reach previously underserved customers."

Speakeasy Wireless Broadband Service Advantages:

-- Highest Density Network -- With a multi-cell overlapping coverage
environment, Speakeasy is providing a high density WiMAX-class
deployment by providing a larger addressable market, higher reliability
and Quality of Service for business customers. The close proximity of
each base station provides higher through-put per subscriber and
greater dependability.
-- Near-Line of Site & Non-Line of Site -- For the first time near-line of
site and non-line of site installations are possible with Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology. In addition,
Speakeasy's WiMAX-class service network is completely independent of
the incumbent phone company network and provides a resilient alternate
connection for businesses.
-- Longer Distance Data Transmission Range -- Unlike WiFi (the technology
used in homes, offices, airports and cafes that allows users to connect
wirelessly from their laptop computers within 150 feet of an antenna),
WiMAX-class base stations deliver broadband Internet connections
through fixed antennas that send and receive signals across entire
cities at distances of approximately two miles per base station.
-- Bandwidth Flexibility -- The service's bandwidth levels can be flexibly
assigned to upload and download, so that businesses can tailor their
service to fit their usage patterns. This can translate to savings for
businesses that upload high content volumes, as compared to wire line
broadband technologies like T1 or fractional DS3.
-- WiMAX Economics -- In addition to the technical and operational
learning Speakeasy will gain, the Seattle deployment will serve as a
proof-center for wireless broadband industry on issues such as pricing,
service levels, installation time, customer demand and acceptance for
equipment, and overall customer experience.
-- Outdoor or Indoor Installations -- Using Alvarion's single, small
wireless antenna and radio, business customers will receive pure IP
broadband data transmission.

With the addition of the Space Needle site, the network is entering final deployment. Speakeasy is taking customer orders beginning today and will bring customers online in early June. Speakeasy's service will allow an unprecedented percentage of customers in the downtown core, including the Belltown, Lower Queen Anne, Central Business District, Pioneer Square and Lake Union neighborhoods, to have reliable access to wireless broadband at total connection speeds as fast as 6MB. Installation is quick and affordable and, with an annual contract, rates begin as low as $500 per month for the 3MB total connection and $800 per month for the 6MB total connection.