Introduction to Broadband Wireless roadband wireless sits at the confluence of two of the most remarkable growth stories of the telecommunications industry in recent years. Both wireless and broadband have on their own enjoyed rapid mass-market adoption. Wireless mobile services grew from 11 million subscribers worldwide in 1990 to more than 2 billion in 2005 [1]. During the same period, the Internet grew from being a curious academic tool to having about a billion users. This staggering growth of the Internet is driving demand for higher-speed Internet-access services, leading to a parallel growth in broadband adoption. In less than a decade,. | This page intentionally left blank Chapter 1 Introduction to Broadband Wireless Broadband wireless sits at the confluence of two of the most remarkable growth stories of the telecommunications industry in recent years. Both wireless and broadband have on their own enjoyed rapid mass-market adoption. Wireless mobile services grew from 11 million subscribers worldwide in 1990 to more than 2 billion in 2005 1 . During the same period the Internet grew from being a curious academic tool to having about a billion users. This staggering growth of the Internet is driving demand for higher-speed Internet-access services leading to a parallel growth in broadband adoption. In less than a decade broadband subscription worldwide has grown from virtually zero to over 200 million 2 . Will combining the convenience of wireless with the rich performance of broadband be the next frontier for growth in the industry Can such a combination be technically and commercially viable Can wireless deliver broadband applications and services that are of interest to the endusers Many industry observers believe so. Before we delve into broadband wireless let us review the state of broadband access today. Digital subscriber line DSL technology which delivers broadband over twisted-pair telephone wires and cable modem technology which delivers over coaxial cable TV plant are the predominant mass-market broadband access technologies today. Both of these technologies typically provide up to a few megabits per second of data to each user and continuing advances are making several tens of megabits per second possible. Since their initial deployment in the late 1990s these services have enjoyed considerable growth. The United States has more than 50 million broadband subscribers including more than half of home Internet users. Worldwide this number is more than 200 million today and is projected to grow to more than 400 million by 2010 2 . The availability of a wireless solution for broadband could .
