WiMAX is a compelling sell these days for many reasons. The main one is its ability to make broadband wireless access (BWA) cheaper and easier to deploy. It requires few truckrolls due to good non-line-of-sight protocols and offers lots of ratcheting in bandwidth for discrete services. Some analysts caution though that any cost savings is dependent on the ability of WiMAX providers to bundle wireless broadband services with voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). By doing so, customers should be able to reap the reward in terms of a lower monthly bill, despite the initial investment in upgrading from dial-up Internet access to broadband. Add the element of mobility to the WiMAX/VoIP combination and you have an even more compelling sell.

Integration with VoIP makes good sense for WiMAX. If the technology only supports data, there is little compelling reason to justify build-outs. Voice provides the impetus to make providers more interested in the technology and for consumers to want to try it. But will the creation of a so-called “WiMAX-enabled wireless phone network” be as straightforward as it sounds?

The simple answer is no. But some promising first steps have been taken. Earlier this year the fixed-wireless provider NextWeb (www.nextweb.net) teamed with VoIP facilitator CommPartner (www.commpartners.us) to rollout a wireless VoIP over pre-WiMAX network. It delivers phone service to small and medium-sized businesses in select areas of Northern California. Because the network relies on a fixed wireless connection, it's not actually mobile VoIP, but with work on the mobile version of WiMAX (802.16e) almost complete, that may not be too far out in the future.

WiMAX-based VoIP delivery took another step forward with the certification of Broadsoft's (www.broadsoft.com) BroadWorks VoIP application platform with Soma Networks' (www.somanetworks.com) SIP-based VoIP, paving the way for VoIP application delivery over WiMAX. More recently, TowerStream (www.towerstream.com) struck a deal to sell Vonage (www.vonage.com) VoIP in a bundle with its Internet access. In what may be the first of many deals to come, it will allow TowerStream customers to use their VoIP access at WiMAX hotspots.

At each turn, the industry edges closer to the realization of WiMAX-enabled wireless VoIP. Make no mistake, the task ahead is a difficult one, but if successful, the benefits will be many. Wireless VoIP networks, for example, are less expensive to setup and install than wired ones. They are also considered more secure in the face of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina where the “last-mile” of wired solutions may be physically damaged or destroyed.

Perhaps the biggest benefit though of WiMAX-enabled wireless VoIP will be the added mobility it grants to people on the move. Today, WiFi hotspots allow mobile consumers to check e-mail or surf the web while drinking a morning cup of coffee. But walk out the door and your connection is lost. If WiMAX-enabled wireless VoIP can be implemented successfully, this will one day be a thing of the past. One thing is for sure, with the rollout of WiMAX in progress, the shape of the communications industry will never be the same again.