A satellite communications company has called satellite-delivered WiMAX “the future for handheld devices.” At a WiMAX Forum Plenary today and tomorrow in Vancouver, PanAmSat will use WiMAX to deliver what it claims to be the first-ever live video sent by satellite to a handheld device.

PanAmSat expects mobile phone, PDA, and laptop users to access the Internet over satellite-based WiMAX connections, and also sees the technology as a way to deliver IP-TV throughout the US. Previously, WiMAX has been targeted to MANs (metropolitan area networks). For instance, Intel positioned WiMAX as a means of making wireless broadband access more accessible when it first began promoting the technology in September of last year.

According to PanAmSat's senior VP of business development, Bruce Haymes, “Satellite-delivered WiMAX technology is the future for handheld devices such as smartphones and laptops. WiMAX will also enable the delivery of IPTV throughout the US, as well as being integrated into our satellite news gathering or SNG services.”

PanAmSat says its WiMAX demo represents the first-ever satellite delivery of live video to a handheld device. The demo involves ten channels of live content from the film studio of online learning specialist Trinity Workplace Learning. The live streams are uplinked to PanAmSat's Galaxy 11 satellite, where they are encoded and transcoded by PanAmSat technology partner Kencast before being delivered to handheld devices at the Vancouver event.

The streams in the demo include training material aimed at law enforcement, fire, and other emergency personnel. The companies could be planning to target the technology initially at first responders and civil servants, who often struggle with non-interoperable communications channels, and often lack secure Internet access.

The WiMAX Forum Plenary is sponsored by Intel and others, and is among the industry's leading events for showcasing the application of WiMAX technology, PanAmSat says.

WiMAX technology will be incorporated in notebook computers and smartphones in 2006, according to ABI. Companies currently shipping WiMAX chipsets include Intel and Fujitsu, while Cavium offers security coprocessors aimed at WiMAX access devices and CPE (customer premises equipment).

 
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