A language for sending Internet Protocol traffic to and from wireless devices, such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, and other such terminals. WAP also has interactive TV implications: BskyB, in Europe, uses it to transmit interactive elements from satellites to set-top boxes.

A measure of electrical power, equivalent to voltage times amperage. See voltage.

WiMax is Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) on amphetamines: Way faster, way more reach, compared to WiFi. It blasts bits at speeds of up to 70 Megabits per second, shared amongst users. (Heavy on the “up to,” some caution.) As for reach, WiMax signals can move a theoretical 31 miles, although most say five to 10 miles is more likely. In short, what Wi-Fi is for the home or office, WiMax is for the subdivision or office park.

In the WiMax engine room, the technology goes by a more stultified name: The “Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Access Wireless Systems.” It moves under an IEEE specification, known as 802.16. (Wi-Fi moves under “the 802.11s,” to include their suffixes – “a,” “b,” and “g.”)

In one version (802.16e), WiMax works without the need for “line of sight” between the subscriber device (i.e., laptop) and the antenna. It’s achievable because its creators placed spectral boundaries between 2 and 11 Gigahertz. That spectrum, by the way, is both licensed and unlicensed.

WiMax carries a noteworthy list of well-heeled proponents, like Intel Corp, Motorola Inc., Qwest, Earthlink, and Alcatel. Intel is perhaps the most predictive. At wireless gatherings in 2004, Intel honchos predicted exterior-mount WiMax antennas in the $350 range; by the 2005 back-to-school season, they foresaw a sub-$200 indoor antenna, that people can install themselves. Slide-in WiMax cards for laptops and PCs were to follow in 2006.

WiMax gained early traction as an option for municipal broadband overbuilds. Most WiMax watchers say the service will likely come from “wireless ISPs,” which go by the spoken acronym “WISPs.” Some cities are already installing the equipment themselves, as a way to provide low-cost, city-wide broadband access. (Yikes.)

Others, including digital subscriber line provider Covad Communications Inc., are eyeing WiMax as a sort of “fill in technology,” to touch hard-to-reach areas.

WiMax as a fill-in technology is a workable cable angle, too: It’s entirely plausible to imagine WiMax as an answer for rural markets, or city pockets where dropping lines is tricky or prohibitively expensive.

Women in Cable and Telecommunications. A professional organization that promotes leadership programs and services ,to create professional advancement opportunities for women. 4,500 members in 21 local chapters. www.WICT.org

In cable television networks, wideband is the aggregate digital throughput achieved by bonding together a number of 6 MHz channels — so, the creation of a larger “pipe” inside the very large pipe that is broadband. (See “channel bonding.”)

In overall telecommunications, wideband usually lands somewhere between narrowband and broadband, likely because the definition was formed prior to the technological developments that produced broadband.

Cable technologists view wideband as one of the key features of the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem specifications.

A form of terrestrial broadband, based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, for transmitting broadband Internet services over the air. Wireless “hot spots” in airports, cafes and hotels are typically based on WiFi.

WiFi’s 802.11 underpinnings carry nearly as many one-letter suffixes as “on-demand” has one-letter prefixes. There’s 802.11a, which runs between 5-54 Mbps, on eight to 12 channels, in the 5 GHz, with a span of about 66 feet. Then there’s 802.11b, which sends between 2-11 Mbps through three channels in the 2.5 GHz spectral range, reaching around 330 feet. 802.11g offers speeds of up to 54 Mbps, also in the 2.4 GHz range, but with assorted types of modulation to fend off interference.

The broadband angle in this is a “residential gateway,” outfitted with high bandwidth, wireless spigots. A bandwidth gusher connected to a wireless gusher, which slakes the thirstier and thirstier fleet of consumer gizmos.

WiMax is Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) on amphetamines: Way faster, way more reach, compared to WiFi. It blasts bits at speeds of up to 70 Megabits per second, shared amongst users. (Heavy on the “up to,” some caution.) As for reach, WiMax signals can move a theoretical 31 miles, although most say five to 10 miles is more likely. In short, what Wi-Fi is for the home or office, WiMax is for the subdivision or office park.

In the WiMax engine room, the technology goes by a more stultified name: The “Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Access Wireless Systems.” It moves under an IEEE specification, known as 802.16. (Wi-Fi moves under “the 802.11s,” to include their suffixes – “a,” “b,” and “g.”)

In one version (802.16e), WiMax works without the need for “line of sight” between the subscriber device (i.e., laptop) and the antenna. It’s achievable because its creators placed spectral boundaries between 2 and 11 Gigahertz. That spectrum, by the way, is both licensed and unlicensed.

WiMax carries a noteworthy list of well-heeled proponents, like Intel Corp, Motorola Inc., Qwest, Earthlink, and Alcatel. Intel is perhaps the most predictive. At wireless gatherings in 2004, Intel honchos predicted exterior-mount WiMax antennas in the $350 range; by the 2005 back-to-school season, they foresaw a sub-$200 indoor antenna, that people can install themselves. Slide-in WiMax cards for laptops and PCs were to follow in 2006.

WiMax gained early traction as an option for municipal broadband overbuilds. Most WiMax watchers say the service will likely come from “wireless ISPs,” which go by the spoken acronym “WISPs.” Some cities are already installing the equipment themselves, as a way to provide low-cost, city-wide broadband access. (Yikes.)

Others, including digital subscriber line provider Covad Communications Inc., are eyeing WiMax as a sort of “fill in technology,” to touch hard-to-reach areas.

WiMax as a fill-in technology is a workable cable angle, too: It’s entirely plausible to imagine WiMax as an answer for rural markets, or city pockets where dropping lines is tricky or prohibitively expensive.