Thursday, January 26, 2006

POSDATA and Intel to commercialize WiBro and mobile WiMAX

POSDATA today signed a Memorandum of Understand with Intel Corporation to speed up the worldwide deployment of WiBro and Mobile WiMAX solutions based on the IEEE 802.16e standard.
The cooperation combines POSDATA’s mobile WiMAX products for WiBro service and trial experiences with Korea’s incumbent service providers, and Intel’s global capabilities on WiMAX. Additionally, the two companies will cooperate in the development of IEEE 802.16e-based products and solutions. POSDATA and Intel will support one another to facilitate interoperability testing and field trials with global service providers to expedite the commercial launch of Mobile WiMAX-certified products and services.
Mobile WiMAX technology, based on the IEEE 802.16e standard, is designed to help service providers across global markets deliver economical broadband data, voice, and video services to both residential and business customers. WiBro, a service developed in Korea, is a subset of IEEE 802.16e and designed for mobile applications.
"Through this mutually beneficial business collaboration, POSDATA and Intel increase the market opportunities for Mobile WiMAX while decreasing the time to market," said Joon-Il Shin, Senior Vice President of POSDATA’s FLYVO Business Division.

3G Test Calls Made at 900Mhz Band

Nortel, Qualcomm and Orange have successfully completed UMTS and HSDPA calls in the 900 MHz band. W-CDMA in the 900 MHz band is a cost effective way to deliver nationwide high-speed wireless coverage. It achieves a 60 percent reduction in cell sites required to serve rural areas and delivers improved Quality of Service in urban areas by enhancing in-building penetration by 25 percent

Friday, January 20, 2006

Boats in Shaldon, Devon, UK

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U.S. to open WiMAX spectrum

Looking to stay ahead of Asian and European rivals in broadband deployment, the U.S. is making an aggressive bid to open up spectrum for emerging WiMAX technology, according to a Bush administration official.
The U.S. is moving to open up WiMAX spectrum on several fronts, including the 700-MHz frequency band, said Michael Gallagher, assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. Gallagher also serves as administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
The move is part of the Bush administration’s effort to stay “one or two steps ahead of other countries” and provide “universal, affordable access for broadband [in the United States] by 2007,” Gallagher said during a presentation at the WCA’s 12th Annual International Symposium and Expo on Wednesday (Jan. 18).

WiMax Gear Approved for Market - Wireless Networking News Analysis

WiMax is finally a reality. The first round of certification tests have been completed, and base stations from Aperto Networks , Redline Communications Inc. , and Sequans Communications , plus Wavesat Wireless Inc. 's customer equipment have got the seal of approval from the WiMAX Forum .

IAdvanced 3G mobile phones gain momentum in Asia

At the end of December, 47.7 percent of Japan's 90 million mobile users were on 3G networks. KDDI Corp., the country's second-largest mobile operator, has led the trend with about 95 percent of its customers on 3G, while No. 1 NTT DoCoMo Inc. ended the month with 40 percent of its 50.4 million customers on its 3G network.
In South Korea, the dominant mobile operator SK Telecom Co. Ltd. has also signed up about 40 percent of its customers to its 3G network.
Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., which operates 3G networks in markets such as Britain, Australia, Hong Kong and Sweden, said in October that it had more than 10 million 3G subscribers worldwide.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Another year, another load of acronyms - vnunet.com

How apt that we should finish 2005 with yet another IT acronym being hyped: IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).
IMS has entered a somewhat crowded corner of the acronym market and should not be confused with IBM’s Information Management System, the Internet Multicasting Service, the Israel Meteorological Service, the Institute for Molecular Science, the Irish Mathematical Society or even the International Meat Secretariat.

STMicroelectronics offers mobile WiMAX basestation solution

Global supplier of System-on-Chip (SoC) products for the wireless market STMicroelectronics announces its turnkey solution for mobile WiMAX (802.16e) base-station modems. Based on a SoC baseband processor for wireless infrastructure applications (STW51000), ST's comprehensive WiMAX offering couples silicon integration with optimised software libraries, opening a cost-effective path to next-generation mobile broadband services.

Telecompaper: "Your One-StSK, Wavesat collaborate on WiBro/OFDMA

SK Telecom and WiMAX systems developer Wavesat have entered into an agreement to cooperate on the development of WiBro/OFDMA technology for next generation mobile devices. As part of this multi-million dollar agreement, Wavesat will work closely with SK Telecom (SKT) to develop WiBro/OFDMA SOC, system tools and a development kit based on the WiBro 802.16e S-OFDMA profile. Wavesat's strategy is to provide a distinct solution for each WiMAX market segment: from backhaul to DSL extension with 802.16-2004 fixed OFDM solutions; to high speed connectivity for laptop basic mobility with 802.16e OFDM Evolutive products; to full mobility with the upcoming 802.16e OFDMA UMobile product portfolio

SFR claims 1 million 3G subscribers

French mobile operator SFR has over 1 million mobile subscribers with access to its UMTS network and expects to reach 2.5 million by the end of this year. The company, which launched UMTS services in November 2004, reached the 500,000 suscriber mark in October already, two months ahead of schedule. The company's UMTS network covers around 60 percent of France as of the end of 2005. Music downloads, an important focus for SFR's parent company Vivendi Universal, totalled 830,000 tracks last year, of which 340,000 in the month of December alone. Video sessions reached 4.3 million in 2005, of which 1.2 million in December and 40,000 for the special edition of the TV series 24. The company had 20,000 subscribers for its CanalSat selection of 26 TV channels at the end of 2005. Finally, video phoning is used regularly by one out of every three SFR UMTS subscribers, with almost 2 million video calls registered on SFR's network since the launch of the service in November 2004, while three out of four UMTS clients use the Vodafone Live! internet services portal. Last week, SFR's French rival Orange also claimed over 1 million 3G subscribers.

Carriers Flock into 3G Pre-commercial Networks

It's time for China to issue third-generation (3G) telecom licenses, Xi Guohua, vice minister of the Ministry of Information Industry of China said on December 26.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

TGlobeTel wins WiMAX deals in Russian Federation

GlobeTel Wireless has entered into an agreement with LLC Internafta of Moscow, whereby Internafta will pay to GlobeTel Wireless a series of four construction payments totaling USD 600 million for the installation of an array of proprietary networks to be installed in Russia's 30 largest cities, starting with Moscow and St. Petersburg. GlobeTel Wireless' WiMAX networks are to provide broadband, VOIP and DECt technologies. GlobeTel Wireless will both manage the completed network and will retain an ongoing 50 percent shareholding in the operations of the network. GlobeTel plans to roll out the network in three stages, comprising ten cities each, over the next 27 months.

Orbitel to launch WiMAX services in Q2

Colombian long distance operator Orbitel aims to launch a public WiMAX service in Q2, Orbitel president Alejandro Ceballos told BNamericas. Orbitel plans to offer not just connectivity but applications such as VoIP and access to music and video content as well. Orbitel is still selecting equipment providers and has not disclosed how much the company is investing in the launch of WiMAX services but the company expects that the greatest expense will be the spectrum licensing fees

WiMAX & 3G: Friends or Foes? - 1/1/2006 - Wireless Week - CA6293821

As the WiMAX IEEE standard 802.16e prepares to conquer certification, technology innovators and operators alike are igniting a widespread commitment to bringing the promise of wireless broadband to life. In the midst of this fast race for deployment, however, the question lingers on how WiMAX will co-exist with other mobile technologies. Because the true promise of WiMAX is the fast, seamless and mobile delivery of large data, voice and video streams to a full array of end-user devices, you might believe its benefits sound familiar to 3G and question its necessity or its ability to succeed. The primary difference is, where 3G technology has struggled – such as with benchmark services and applications, backhaul and convergence – WiMAX can provide the necessary support to help augment 3G so it can overcome those challenges.