Wibro

WiBro (Wireless Broadband) is a wireless broadband Internet technology being developed by the South Korean telecoms industry. WiBro is the South Korean service name for IEEE 802.16e (mobile WiMAX) international standard.

Designed and integrated by the Korean telecom industry as an answer to the drawbacks of speed curbs in the likes of CDMA 1x mobile phones and to increase the flow rate of broadband Internet like the ADSL or Wireless LAN, the technology uses TDD for duplexing, OFDMA for multiple access and 8.75MHz as a channel bandwidth.

As the wibro base stations, provides a dataflow rate of 30 to 50 Mbit/s and also allow the usage of portable internet with in arrange of 1 – 5 Km, obviously the data flow rate, of devices in motion can be in a range of 120 km/hr and about 250 km/hr for wireless lan’s having a slow speed and for mobile phones. This figures were actually higher when compared with the range and bandwidth it offered during the testing of this technology in connection with the APEC summit in Busan in 2005. The main advantage this technology has over the WIMAX standard is its Quality of service (QoS). This QoS gives more reliability for the streaming video content and for other loss-sensitive data. WiBro is quite demanding, in its needs varying from the spectrum use to equipment design, WiMAX leaves much of this up to the equipment provider while supplying enough information to confirm the interoperability between designs.

In Korea, the government by 2001 recognized the advent of this innovative technology by giving a 100 MHz of electromagnetic spectrum in the 2.3 - 2.4 GHz band. By the end of 2004, WiBro Phase 1 was standardized by the TTA of Korea and in late 2005, ITU reflected WiBro as IEEE 802.16e. By June 2006, two major telecom companies in Korea namely the KT and the SKT Two Korean Telco (KT, SKT) began the commercial operations in the country, starting with a charge rate of 30 US$.

Since then, many telecom giants around the world namely the TI (Italia), TVA (Brazil), Omnivision (Venezuela), PORTUS (Croatia), and Arialink (Michigan) have started plans to come out with the commercial operations of the technology.

WiBro adapts TDD for duplexing, OFDMA for multiple access and 8.75 MHz as a channel bandwidth. WiBro was devised to overcome the data rate limitation of mobile phones (for example CDMA 1x) and to add mobility to broadband Internet access (for example ADSL or Wireless LAN). In February 2002, the Korean government allocated 100 MHz of electromagnetic spectrum in the 2.3 - 2.4 GHz band, and in late 2004 WiBro Phase 1 was standardized by the TTA of Korea and in late 2005 ITU reflected WiBro as IEEE 802.16e (mobile WiMAX). Two South Korean Telco (KT, SKT) launched commercial service in June 2006, and the tariff is around 30 US$.

WiBro base stations will offer an aggregate data throughput of 30 to 50 Mbit/s and cover a radius of 1-5 km allowing for the use of portable internet usage. In detail, it will provide mobility for moving devices up to 120 km/h (74.5 miles/h) compared to Wireless LAN having mobility up to walking speed and Mobile Phone having mobility up to 250 km/h. From testing during the APEC Summit in Busan in late 2005, the actual range and bandwidth were quite a bit lower than these numbers. The technology will also offer Quality of Service. The inclusion of QoS allows for WiBro to stream video content and other loss-sensitive data in a reliable manner. These all appear to be (and may be) the stronger advantages over the fixed WiMAX standard (802.16a). Some Telcos in many countries are trying to commercialize this Mobile WiMAX (or WiBro). For example, TI (Italia), TVA (Brazil), Omnivision (Venezuela), PORTUS (Croatia), and Arialink (Michigan) will provide commercial service after test service around 2006-2007. While WiBro is quite exacting in its requirements from spectrum use to equipment design, WiMAX leaves much of this up to the equipment provider while providing enough detail to ensure interoperability between designs.