Optimization and Sensitivity Analysis of a WiMAX Business Case

In Part 1 of this three part series article, we outlined the process of gathering the input parameters for a comprehensive WiMAX business case. In Part 2 we discussed how to define a variety of service plans and marketing plans in order to build the top line in a WiMAX business case. Here we will focus on the process of selecting the key performance indicators that have the greatest effect on a WiMAX business case, the process of performing sensitivity analysis, and the process of optimizing a WiMAX business case.

WiMAX Opportunities in Africa

The growth and development of WiMAX in Africa has taken place mainly during 2006-2007. At the beginning of 2006, the WiMAX subscribers figure for Africa was just a few thousand. But according to the WiMAX Operator Tracking Service, WiMAXCounts, at the end of 2007 that continent accounts for more than 20,000 WiMAX subscribers.

Bangladesh being connected with Trans-Eurasia Information Network

To promote ICT sector development
Bangladesh is going to be connected with 'Trans-Eurasia Information Network' (TEIN-3) in order to upgrade the quality of education in the country ........More

Subscriber units(Client Units)

WiMAX subscriber units are available in both indoor and outdoor versions from several manufacturers. Self-install indoor units are convenient, but radio losses mean that the subscriber must be significantly closer to the WiMAX base station than with professionally-installed external units. As such, indoor-installed units require a much higher infrastructure investment as well as operational cost (site lease, backhaul, maintenance) due to the high number of base stations required to cover a given area. Indoor units are comparable in size to a cable modem or DSL modem. Outdoor units are roughly the size of a laptop PC, and their installation is comparable to a residential satellite dish.

Broadband access

Many companies are closely examining WiMAX for last mile connectivity. The resulting competition may bring lower pricing for both home and business customers or bring broadband access to places where it has been economically unavailable.WiMAX access was used to assist with communications in Aceh, Indonesia, after the tsunami in December 2004. All communication infrastructure in the area, other than Ham Radio, was destroyed, making the survivors unable to communicate with people outside the disaster area and vice versa. WiMAX provided broadband access that helped regenerate communication to and from Aceh.In addition, WiMAX was used by Intel to assist the FCC and FEMA in their communications efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina

Wimax Uses

The bandwidth and range of WiMAX make it suitable for the following potential applications:

• Connecting Wi-Fi hotspots with other parts of the Internet.
• Providing a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for "last mile" broadband access.
• Providing data and telecommunications services.
• Providing a source of Internet connectivity as part of a business continuity plan. That is, if a business has a fixed and a wireless Internet connection, especially from unrelated providers, they are unlikely to be affected by the same service outage.
• Providing portable connectivity.

WiMax Definitions

The terms "fixed WiMAX", "mobile WiMAX", "802.16d" and "802.16e" are frequently used incorrectly.Correct definitions are the following:

• 802.16-2004 is often called 802.16d, since that was the working party that developed the standard. It is also frequently referred to as "fixed WiMAX" since it has no support for mobility.

• 802.16e-2005 is an amendment to 802.16-2004 and is often referred to in shortened form as 802.16e. It introduced support for mobility, amongst other things and is therefore also known as "mobile WiMAX".

Future development

Mobile WiMAX based upon 802.16e-2005 has been accepted as IP-OFDMA for inclusion as the sixth wireless link system under IMT-2000. This can hasten acceptance by regulatory authorities and operators for use in cellular spectrum. WiMAX II, 802.16m will be proposed for IMT-Advanced 4G.

The goal for the long term evolution of both WiMAX and LTE is to achieve 100 Mbit/s mobile and 1 Gbit/s fixed-nomadic bandwidth as set by ITU for 4G NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Network) systems through the adaptive use of MIMO-AAS and smart, granular network topologies. 3GPP LTE and WiMAX-m are concentrating much effort on MIMO-AAS, mobile multi-hop relay networking and related developments needed to deliver 10X and higher Co-Channel reuse multiples.

Since the evolution of core air-link technologies has approached the practical limits imposed by Shannon's Theorem, the evolution of wireless has embarked on pursuit of the 3X to 10X+ greater bandwidth and network efficiency by advances in the spatial and smart wireless broadband networking technologies.

Size Matters Of Companies

Sun Microsystems (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Yahoo! headquarters (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Microsoft's logo with the old slogan, "Where do you want to go today?" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Companies the size of IBM could fare better in a weakening economy than smaller rivals, analysts said, as customers pare back the number of vendors to focus on those deemed most resilient to an economic slowdown.
Demand for hardware appears to be trickling down to smaller manufacturers such as Sun Microsystems Inc, whose shares have been battered, losing 48 percent this year.
Sun, a maker of high-end servers, reported on Tuesday preliminary results in line with expectations, but that sparked a rally in its shares by investors who had feared much worse.
Jerry Dodson, a portfolio manager with Parnassus Investments, which manages $1.5 billion, said he fears other software makers may post weak earnings after Microsoft's disappointing results.
"It (the rough economy) seems to be hitting software more than the hardware," Dodson said.
SAP AG and Oracle Corp, the two biggest makers of business management software, look vulnerable, he said. Germany-based SAP is scheduled to report on July 29, while its California-based rival released results for its most-recent quarter last month, issuing a cautious earnings outlook and saying it expected software sales growth to slow.
Microsoft's online division posted an eighth consecutive quarter of decline, reporting an operating loss of $488 million. Industry analysts feel that bodes poorly for Microsoft's rival and acquisition target, Yahoo Inc, which reports results on Tuesday.
"Their weakness in the online division is an indicator in display advertising, which has follow-through implications for someone like Yahoo," Bagwell said.

Tech earnings diverge as economy weakens

IBM and other technology companies whose products help big corporations save money or expand data storage capacity are faring better than those relying on consumers as the economy slows.
International Business Machines Corp, the world's biggest technology company, impressed investors by easily beating quarterly profit expectations and raising 2008 forecasts when it reported along with other big tech companies on Thursday.
In contrast, Microsoft Corp missed estimates amid concern about its online business and the economy, while Google Inc also disappointed. The Web leader told investors it was operating under "uncertain economic conditions" after a weaker-than-expected 35 percent quarterly profit increase.
Darren Bagwell, director of equity research at Thrivent Asset Management, which manages $73 billion, reckons IBM's results point to strong performances for companies like EMC Corp, the world's biggest maker of corporate storage gear. EMC releases its results on July 23.
"IBM's mainframe business was on fire," he said, pointing to a new line of computers that IBM introduced in February. They sold out at the end of the second quarter after the company's first major upgrade to its mainframes in almost three years. They are used in "green" data centers that help businesses save money on energy and maintenance costs.
In a teleconference with analysts and reporters on Thursday, IBM said demand from companies in developed countries looking to expand data centers contributed to its better-than-expected 22 percent rise in quarterly profit.
Bagwell noted both Microsoft and Google said they plan to invest heavily to develop larger, more sophisticated data centers so they can better compete with each other.
"They are spending a lot of money to build out the infrastructure they need," he said. "Someone is going to get the benefit of that, obviously."
Bagwell expects such infrastructure investment will also bolster profits at VMware Inc, whose software helps companies save money by allowing them to boost the efficiency of server computers.

Internet-oriented systems

Early WirelessMAN standards, the European standard HIPERMAN and Korean standard WiBro have been harmonized as part of WiMAX and are no longer seen as competition but as complementary. All networks now being deployed in South Korea, the home of the WiBro standard, are now WiMAX.

As a short-range mobile Internet technology, such as in cafes and at transportation hubs like airports, the popular Wi-Fi 802.11b/g system is widely deployed, and provides enough coverage for some users to feel subscription to a WiMAX service is unnecessary.

Mobile Broadband Wireless Access

Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) is a technology being developed by IEEE 802.20 and is aimed at wireless mobile broadband for operations from 120 to 350 km/h. The 802.20 standard committee was first to define many of the methods which were later funneled into Mobile WiMAX, including high speed dynamic modulation and similar scalable OFDMA capabilities. It apparently retains fast hand-off, Forward Error Correction (FEC) and cell edge enhancements.
The Working Group was temporarily suspended in mid 2006 by the IEEE-SA Standards Board since it had been the subject of a number of appeals, and a preliminary investigation of one of these "revealed a lack of transparency, possible 'dominance,' and other irregularities in the Working Group".
In September 2006 the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved a plan to enable the working group to continue under new conditions, and the standard is now expected to be finalized by Q2 2008.

Introduction: WiMAX

WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides for the wireless transmission of data in a variety of ways, ranging from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular-type access. The technology provides the users with an idea of enjoying the broadband speed without the actual requirement of any wires or bulky network structures. The technology is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard (also called WirelessMAN). The name "WiMAX" was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard. The forum describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL"(and also to High Speed Packet Access).

Currently, Pakistan has the largest fully functional Wimax network in the world. Wateen Telecom installed the network (with an initial rollout in seventeen cities) throughout Pakistan using Motorola hardware