ANTenna Blog -- Mobile

"The Future of Wireless Broadband" was the first session I attended at last week's Mobile Business Expo at Interop in New York And the first thing I learned was that the adoption of wireless broadband isn't going to be a simple matter of clear winners and losers.

Everyone likes to pick a favorite mobile broadband technology, but the reality is that among the alphabet soup of technologies like Wi-Fi, WiMax, EV-DO, 3G, and 4G, there is no such thing as one size fits all.

More to the point, the success of any one of these technologies drives demand for all of them. The success of Wi-Fi, for example, is pushing demand for the kind of seamless mobile connectivity that even municipal Wi-Fi is unlikely to be able to deliver.

Similarly, individual devices now incorporate multiple technologies, to take advantage of whatever network may be available. According to the session speakers, more than 100 cellular phones available around the world now have Wi-Fi built in, and many of those are sold unlocked so they can be used on any available network.

The lesson: Don't put all your eggs in one technology basket. Instead, play the field and use the right technology for the right applications

Learn more about wireless broadband for smaller companies in this Yankee Group research report: To EV-DO or Not to EV-DO Shouldn't Be a Question for SMBs. It's free when you join bMighty.com.