Worldmax, a Dutch WiMAX service provider, has launched in Amsterdam, offering 30 EUR per month WiMAX service in the city. Worldmax is a joint venture of Intel Capital and Enertel Holding, which bought the license to the 3.5 GHz spectrum in 2003. Enertel is a Dutch telecommunications company.

Customers will need a WiMAX PC card (since most laptops do not have a WiMAX chip). During the introductory period, Worldmax is giving away these cards, but in the future customers will have to pay 90 EUR.

During a session yesterday at the WiMAX Global Forum Congress in Amsterdam, Worldmax CTO Keimpe Algra emphasized that WiMAX cannot compete with fixed wireless in urban areas such as Amsterdam, where there is DSL, cable and FTTH. WiMAX’s only advantage is “mobile”, having your broadband connection with you wherever you go (including in the home and office). Hence, Worldmax is going after the broad consumer market: people who want broadband access everywhere, especially business people who already have 3G PC cards from operators such as Vodafone. The company hopes that the higher speeds that WiMAX offers, will lure people away from the 3G operators.

For backhaul, Worldmax has two point-to-point links in Amsterdam, both of which are connected to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange’s fiber network. There are 65 WiMAX base stations throughout the city. At present, most people can connect to the WiMAX network outdoors, but by August, users will be able to receive the signals indoors as well.

So is WiMAX really Wi-Fi on steroids as the marketing hype claims? Not if all you get is 1 Mbps downstream and 128 Kbps upstream, which is what Worldmax is offering to customers.

Tags: enertel, intel, WiMAX, worldmax