A comparison of wi-fi and wimax with case studies - Florida State ...
A comparison of wi-fi and wimax with case studies - Florida State ...
A comparison of wi-fi and wimax with case studies - Florida State ...
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In KT’s recent report, 60% <strong>of</strong> subscribers are between 30 <strong>and</strong> 40 <strong>and</strong> 20% are college<br />
students in their 20s. They also <strong>fi</strong>nd that these customers are satis<strong>fi</strong>ed <strong>wi</strong>th service <strong>and</strong> price but<br />
upset about the prices <strong>and</strong> availability <strong>of</strong> devices. KT has to pay subsidization to laptops, WiBrophone<br />
<strong>and</strong> USB-modem buyers about one hundred to two hundred <strong>and</strong> sixty dollars. However,<br />
after subsidizing, the NB (model # NT-Q35) still costs $1750 to $2400, not including accessories.<br />
Until June 2007, the WiBro-related products include two pc-cards, two cell-phones, two mobile-<br />
PCs <strong>and</strong> one notebook. The choices are very limited. [76] – [78][84][85]<br />
The coverage <strong>of</strong> WiBro so far is still restricted in Seoul <strong>and</strong> certain nearby areas. The speed<br />
is fast but the signal is not stable. Although the mobility is available in a bus or subway, the<br />
operation environment is not friendly to use a mobile-PC or NB, not to mention the connection is<br />
not stable. People need a seat to operate them. Since 3G also can provide mobile internet service<br />
<strong>and</strong> is more reliable, WiBro really faces a very dif<strong>fi</strong>cult situation in South Korea. Mobility is the<br />
most important feature <strong>of</strong> WiBro. If subscribers cannot feel the advantages, it would be dif<strong>fi</strong>cult<br />
to increase numbers. Therefore in technical <strong>fi</strong>eld, WiBro has to not only improve signal quality<br />
<strong>and</strong> coverage, but also the mobility. The device problem, sooner or later, <strong>wi</strong>ll be solved. It is just<br />
a matter <strong>of</strong> time. When mechanism becomes mature, the price <strong>wi</strong>ll goes down <strong>and</strong> products <strong>wi</strong>ll<br />
be more varied.<br />
In marketing <strong>fi</strong>eld, KT WiBro proposed six applications: Wonder-Eye (Personal Multimedia<br />
service, Push-Pull on Dem<strong>and</strong>), Wonder-Media (Video Streaming), Wonder-Media (MMS),<br />
Wonder-Phone (Video-Phone), Wonder-Net (Wireless Internet Service), Wonder-Tour (3-D tour<br />
<strong>of</strong> APEC). These applications contain multimedia <strong>and</strong> internet service. WiBro is an interface<br />
between users <strong>and</strong> network. And it can be found out that these applications are overlapped <strong>wi</strong>th<br />
3G <strong>and</strong> Wi-Fi. Thus WiBro has to provide better system performance; other<strong>wi</strong>se it is dif<strong>fi</strong>cult to<br />
take marketing share from other two st<strong>and</strong>ards. After all, they are not kill applications. For<br />
WiBro’s long term development, KT <strong>and</strong> SKT should put more effort on technical problems.<br />
5.3.5. Conclusion<br />
KT, SKT <strong>and</strong> Samsung still believe in the future <strong>of</strong> WiBro. With the extension <strong>of</strong> coverage<br />
<strong>and</strong> new available devices, the subscribers are going to increase. But prices <strong>and</strong> service contents<br />
are the real problems waiting to be solved. If WiBro is not the essential requirement <strong>and</strong> there are<br />
alternative choices available <strong>and</strong> better for internet access, WiBro is dif<strong>fi</strong>cult to increase the<br />
market share. Therefore considering the occasions which WiBro is used, mobility <strong>and</strong> stable<br />
signal are the only way for it to keep going.<br />
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