And Sprint. And S. Korea's WiBro infrastructure provider(s).

Which is why I said look at both technologies globally, weighted by dollars available in each area. The better marketing decision is clear from that analysis.

SUM of (Dollars available / Sq. km) over the area of GPRS/EDGE/HSPA coverage

vs

SUM of (Dollars available / Sq. km) over the area of WiMAX coverage

For example, I'm willing to bet that even if WiMAX covers the entirety of the Congo, and not just the major cities, that dollars spent on WiMAX consumer devices in the entirety of the Congo is dwarfed by dollars spent on GPRS/EDGE/HSPA in a similar area of the US or EU. I bet that's true today, 6 months ago, 12 months ago, and definitely 18 months ago. So, 18 months ago, where's the smart marketing decision? Taking a risk on a trickle of WiMAX dollars spent in the Congo, or a flood of HSPA dollars spent in a similar area in the USA/EU? Now total up all of the WiMAX areas in the same way, and total up all of the GRPS/EDGE/HSPA areas. I'm willing to bet that comparison holds as you keep expanding the scope, weighted by the money.

Only if you're being myopic. I'm talking about the WiMAX vs HSPA as a global market, 18 months ago and as a reasonable forecast 18 months ago to today. Individual successful WiMAX markets don't matter. Individual HSPA deadzones don't matter. What matters is: which was a more viable/deliverable/marketable product decision 18 months ago.

No, they're not. They're quite usable for hand held devices. Even ones with better-than-WAP browsers. There's this thing called "the 2G iPhone". Maybe you've heard of it. You should look into it.

Yes, it was. Again, you should look into this thing called the iPhone. It was out 18 months ago. It was popular 18 months ago. It wasn't the first mobile networking experience on the planet, either. Oh, and, at the time, it was 2G, not 3G.

Which is it: do you want me to look globally/world-wide ... or not? Don't complain that I'm looking globally in one paragraph, and then complain about lack of world-wide focus just a few lines later. Make up your mind which one you want.

World wide.

18 months ago? 12 months ago?

Wow. Way to shift goal posts. You said the number of netbooks that are coming with 3G dongles. I have yet to see a netbook whose included 3G coverage was via a 3G dongle (thus "they're not doing dongles (for their 3G coverage)", where "they" is "netbooks including 3G coverage"). All of the ones I've seen are via PCI-Express-Mini Cards, and a few MIDs are going with Express Cards.

And you back up your support that netbooks are coming with 3G UMTS dongles by showing me 3 links to WiMAX dongles? Interesting logic.

Because it's an available/usable/profitable option, and has been for the entirety of the last 18 months. Even just selling a CDMA based (1xRTT and EVDO) tablet in the Asian markets alone (not even considerig the US CDMA market) would probably be a decent marketing decision.