UK to get its first WiMax-enabled town -- cows rejoice

WiMax is really springing up all over, and the latest target of its wily wireless ways is the city of Milton Keynes in Britain, known especially for its concrete cows (pictured). Telecom Pipex is teaming up with Intel for the rollout, the UK's first, and they're going to announce their exact plans for the service in four weeks. The rollout will be gradual, but once they're done using Milton Keynes for a guinea pig cow, they're hoping to land WiMax in eight UK cities by 2008, including London and Manchester. No word on how much the network will cost when its all said and done, but the new choices it will offer should be good news for consumers currently getting milked on 3G data costs.

[Zeke @ Aug 18th 2006 10:14PM]

Danger, danger! Someone needs to get their cow colors right.

[parisk @ Aug 18th 2006 10:37PM]

The small cow looks more like a pig.

[PacketMonkee @ Aug 18th 2006 11:12PM]

Concrete cows?
Puh-lease. Here in Queensland, Australia it's all been done before and it's all been done bigger!
We have big pineapples, bananas, bulls, toads, apples and more! That's right, I said MORE!

Okay, before I start sounding too much like Steve "monkeyboy" Balmer... seriously, what IS up with the colours on those cows?

[Sid @ Aug 18th 2006 11:45PM]

Haha I like how there's no grass underneath where the cows are standing

[haydio @ Aug 18th 2006 11:49PM]

Lol there black cows with white splodges.

Plus australias the best place on earth

[SLim @ Aug 19th 2006 4:32AM]

I love it that all people want to comment on are the cows!

Does anyone know about the specific WiMax technology involved? I've heard of plans to use high altitude baloons as platforms.

[EnglishEddie @ Aug 19th 2006 5:14AM]

I always thought Milton Keynes was famous for being a revolutionary new town built after the war....but there you go, what would I know. Cows indeed.

I'm guessing it'll be a while before this sort of thing gets as far as Ipswich, but I can't wait till it does. It sucks living somewhere thats ten steps behind the rest of the world...

[Ben Hobbs @ Aug 19th 2006 5:47AM]

The cows have been there for nearly 25 years, Milton Keynes is also home to the largest indoor real snow ski centre in Europe.

I used to live there, its a bit of a dump now.

[Paul Jardine @ Aug 19th 2006 7:28AM]

Odd that you seem to think it's competing with 3G? I am unaware of any Mobile phones that are even on the drawing board yet for WiMax. The first 'customers' will be laptops and probably WiFi bridges (i.e. wireless broadband).
Pricing will have to be more in line with fixed broadband data access than 3G.

[bitchucker @ Aug 19th 2006 9:19AM]

Zeke, there are more species of cow than those that you have seen in the USA. The black and white variety are the most common here in the UK.

[Richard @ Aug 19th 2006 9:23AM]

Why do the aussies so hate the pommies?
I have to say I would prefer sunny sydney to MK any day.
Bloody concrete cows. Only because it is too artificial for real ones!

[Vicky @ Aug 19th 2006 4:41PM]

Mooo.....

I agree with Sid.

[Cactusbob @ Aug 19th 2006 7:57PM]

Milton Keynes would be ideal for this if we didn't have blanket ADSL already. Another waste of time initiative for the council and Pipex

[Hitesh Sawlani @ Aug 20th 2006 2:43PM]

"largest indoor real snow ski centre in Europe"

Every city seems to claim that, in Madrid they told us we had the biggest in Europe..!

[Chaz @ Aug 20th 2006 3:10PM]

Except that we've had WiMax in Bristol for over a year now?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-1471747,00.html

So, obviously not the UK's first by a long shot.

[Jinx @ Aug 20th 2006 5:17PM]

M.K. is not a bad place - the snowdome is pretty huge (can't vouch whether it's the biggest in Euroland) - but refreshingly for a UK city, the place is quite well planned and includes a shed-load of leisure opportunities for folks young and old.

I don't live there, but do make regular trips with my wife to use the ice rink, go shopping, spot the wooden acrobats and the concrete cows (only kidding about the cows!) and I also strudy at the Open University (HQ in MK) in my spare time.

Lucky for me, the concrete cows are a 35 minute drive away! Better yet, those damn Aussies are around 26 hours away on your average passenger jet.



Jinx

[Tom @ Aug 21st 2006 8:47AM]

MK is a hole, a massive ugly concrete hole, and everyone knows it.

It will compete with 3G, as most people use 3G via a pcmcia card for portable broadband.

ADSL availability is a seperate thing, as you can only get ADSL in a house/business, not in the park or down the pub...

[Guy @ Aug 21st 2006 9:32AM]

I live in MK, Internet is CR@P here. no cable allowed because the council wont allow the roads to be dug up, and because we are a new city that is only 40 years old but has the fastest growing population in the country there arnt enough phone line switches to give fast internet to all, the most i am able to get is 512kb! role on the wimax!!!!!!!!