It is observed that the number of wireless internet users grows dramatically and statistical data also shows that this trend will be continuous in the coming years. Both operators and vendors are actively evaluating various broadband wireless access （BWA） technologies. Third generation （3G） mobile technology which is specified by the third generation partnership project （3GPP） is definitely one of the candidates. With the success of wireless local area network （WLAN） 802.11

the IEEE 802.16 standard

with its Wireless Metropolitan area network (MAN? air interface appears to be a strong competitor. In this paper

we provide initial practical comparison of these two technologies.