Oh no! WiMAX jitters?

Read this, much to my dismay as I personally had high hopes for WiMAX.

Australia’s first WiMAX operator, Hervey Bay’s Buzz Broadband, has closed its network, with the CEO labeling the technology as a “disaster” that “failed miserably.”

In an astonishing tirade to an international WiMAX conference audience in Bangkok yesterday afternoon, CEO Garth Freeman slammed the technology, saying its non-line of sight performance was “non-existent” beyond just 2 kilometres from the base station, indoor performance decayed at just 400m and that latency rates reached as high as 1000 milliseconds. Poor latency and jitter made it unacceptable for many Internet applications and specifically VoIP, which Buzz has employed as the main selling point to induce people to shed their use of incumbent services.

We've all been waiting in giddy anticipation for WiMAX over here in Malaysia, at least the last two years have seen much PR play over tenders and what not. Reading this report, does this mean it will all go to waste?

I'm moaning about my "2 KM unfettered broadband internet access, limitless web-surfing whilst at the outskirts of Sabak Bernam" dream going down the drain, but Erna says: "Sounds more like poorly planned infrastructure."

I hope, for all our mobile internet dreams, that Erna is right. And that our Telcos (whoever gets the tender) can plan pretty well.