OBSERVATION://First WiMAX, then xMax, now AIDAAS

WiMAX is gaining momentum (all sorts of deployments come hot on the heels of product certification; Clearwire and NextWave are preparing IPOs), but new technologies keep popping up.

A while ago there was xMax, and this week three more initiaves could be added to the list.

AIDAAS = DVB-S + DVB-T = 3T
A new technology comes out of Malaysia and the Ukraine, bernama.com reports: Advanced Information Delivery and Access Solution (AIDAAS). This is a 'last-mile solution', for both broadband and digital video broadcast. It uses satellite technology for Terrestrial Transponder Technology (3G). Put differently, it combines DVB-S (satellite) and DVB-T (terrestrial) technologies.
"It outstrips WiMAX and what WiMAX promises to deliver in 2008, AIDAAS can deliver today."
Range: up to 60 km. Minimum capacity per end-user: 10 Mbps. And it would lower costs.
Telekom Malyasia is set to trial the technology, using its spectrum.
It sounds exciting, but one has to be a little skeptical. Will it actually work? Can they live up to their promises? How many end-users can be supported? How about network gear and CPE availability? Will it support mobility? In which spectrum band will it perform best? etc.

M2Z
Om Malik wrote about this 'third option'. M2Z is backed by some high-profile VCs and is proposing to the FCC to be given spectrum. In return it will build a nationwide (US) network (in 10 years!). Of a high-end broadband offering, 5% of the income would be given to the US government. A 512 kbps service will be free and ad-supported.
With Auction 66 coming up, this sounds a trifle naive. And it is not clear which technology will be used.

Cyren Call
This is the name of a venture proposing to build a US emergency network, DailyWireless.org writes. Again, the technology is unclear. It would use the 700 MHz band, to be auctioned off in 2008. Cyren Call proposes to be allocated a slice of 30 Mhz.