This is the classic chicken-and-egg bootstrap problem for new tech. No point in rolling out the infrastructure with no demand, no devices will sell without the infrastructure in place, so there's no demand... somebody has to be first.

Those with long experience with technology recognize that, in this pattern, whatever steps out first will also encounter all the problems first. There's a huge price associated with being an early adopter - you pay the highest price, and get to experience all the bugs. If you're a "technology enthusiast" looking for a new hobby, that's just fine. If you're trying to actually get work done, not so much.

IMHO, by the time WiMAX is working well (if that really happens) there will be NEWER devices out there to take advantage of it, that work far better than the first generation, and cost less.

I can't see paying an expensive premium just to do someone else's beta testing.