According to the Chicago Tribune and Zach Epstein over at TheBoyGenius, Chicago’s WiMax rollout will be delayed until sometime in the middle of 2009 or further.  For those unfamiliar with WiMax, it is considered one of the next steps for wireless broadband to jump beyond the speeds attainable by 3G cell networks.  3G speeds are generally considered equal to where DSL was when it first launched: usually in the 200kbps to 500kbps range, but can peak to many times that if miracles happen.  90% of the Global Unanimocracy Network is edited and maintained over AT&T’s 3G mobile network, with very little problems throughout the Chicagoland area.

WiMax is being pushed out by Sprint, with speeds advertised from 2mbps to 4mbps.  This is a little less than DSL, but WiMax is wireless, meaning you can attain such speeds when you’re on the go.  WiMax is currently under a trial run by Spring in the Baltimore area, due to Baltimore’s older house design and smaller overall area.

In order to compete with Sprint at the 4G speed level, AT&T is promising their next step forward called LTE (Long Term Evolution).  LTE shows promise of speeds as high as 50mbps, again through a wireless connection.  AT&T’s upgrade to 7.2mbps in certain regions, including Chicago, should more than double the current speeds attained, and won’t require a hardware upgrade for some customers.  LTE, and WiMax, will require new hardware that may not be backwards compatible with the providers’ current 3G transmitters.

One thing to note is that these steps forward are pushed more by competitive pressures than by any other reason.  It’s important to note that the more competitors that enter a market, the more pressure there is on them to lower prices AND increase the quality of service and level of service.  In the Chicago market, WiMax is already available for the corporate environment through a company called Towerstream, who have already reached a point of profitability in the Chicago area with only a hundred customers or so active.    Competitive pressures are what keeps broadband in the U.S. moving forward, and it is important to not try to force this issue through the government, as I mentioned in a previous article titled Universal Broadband: the Pandering Begins.

As a hardcore mobile broadband user (using up almost 5 GB of data per month at the moment), I am excited to see competing technologies boxing for my monthly contract.  I’m very happy with 3G access through AT&T, but more speed for even a slight bump in price is always important with the size of data transfer growing every day.