Right now, you pretty much have three options for internet access: dial-up, broadband or WiFi. Broadband is pretty expensive and doesn’t reach all areas, and WiFi hot spots are very small, so coverage is sparse. WiMAX (short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) can provide the high speed of broadband service, with wireless rather than wired access. As a result, it offers lower cost than cable or DSL—and is much easier to get in rural areas—and broad coverage, unlike WiFi hotspots. Sprint and Clearwire will be rolling WiMAX out to more than 100 million users by the end of 2008, and other carriers are in the process of doing it as well.
If you decide to get WiMAX, an internet service provider will set up a WiMAX base station about 10 miles from your business. You would need to buy a WiMAX-enabled computer (as CPE prices drop, this will be more economical) or upgrade your old computer to add WiMAX. You will be given a special encryption code that gives you access to the base station, which then will beam data from the internet to your computer (at a higher speed than cable). You would pay the ISP a monthly fee (costs, not yet set, will depend on your region and service provider), but the cost should be much lower than current high-speed internet fees because the provider doesn’t have to run cables. Will WiMAX be sold through retail stores? Eventually, yes. They will be as widely available as DSL or cable modems. However, in the near term, carriers will deliver and in some cases install radios themselves.

This kind of access will enable businesses even in rural areas to be more productive and more mobile. In addition, WiMAX will provide competitive options for customers like you.