There is a lot of talk about WiMax as the greatest thing. Why didnt you go with WiMax?
We looked into it and decided that it wasnt appropriate for a rural area. The technology wasnt fully developed. The range was too short and it was too expensive. For example; a 300 foot tower with WiMax equipment, antennas and a connection to the outside world would cost about $300,000. Given the coverage area and rural population density we would expect to reach about 400 homes. About a third of those homes would want broadband. From our microwave broadband experience, due to trees and terrain, we can connect only about 50% of those who want service. That would leave 60 to 70 users to pay off a capital investment of $300,000. Where is the payback on that investment? Also, WiMax uses adaptive modulation. This means that different modulation profiles (i.e. data rates) are used within certain signal level ranges (i.e. distance from the tower). In practise, this relates to concentric rings of different download speeds radiating out from the tower. The number of users in each modulation pr
