WiMAX is Here

(Top News, 10 Apr 2008)

By Stephen Las Marias, Editor


WiMAX has finally arrived. The WiMAX Forum has announced the first eight mobile WiMAX products that have received the WiMAX Forum Certified Seal of Approval following rigorous testing for interoperability and conformance to standards. The newly WiMAX-certified products include four basestation and four subscriber unit modules, operating on the 2.3GHz frequency band, from WiMAX Forum member companies POSDATA, Runcom Technologies Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd and Sequans Communications.

Speaking at the WiMAX Forum Congress Asia 2008 here in Singapore, WiMAX Forum President Ron Resnick said that this is proof that the industry is following through on its commitment to deliver mobile WiMAX infrastructures.

Dr. Mohammad Shakouri, WiMAX Forum Board Member and Vice President of Marketing, commented that the industry is now moving to the commercialization phase. "This is a major milestone for WiMAX Forum. The industry has moved from standardization, to the products, and now commercialization."

Dr. Shakouri said that the biggest change in the WiMAX ecosystem during the past year was to achieve multivendor interoperability and certification. "The biggest challenge for the industry was the ecosystem of vendors building products that can work with each other in a real open environment. This was the biggest hurdle that the industry was able to overcome, to be able to get multivendor products, and building real products," he said. "Overall we are seeing good industry traction. We are excited that after all of these years, we are now starting to see real products. This is the proof, the industry is maturing, and we're not talking about paper works anymore."

"With the first group of Mobile WiMAX certified products now available, we have delivered on our promise to ensure that WiMAX products are interoperable and that operators have the certified equipment and devices to begin delivering mobile broadband services that consumers want," said Resnick. He added that this momentum will continue throughout the year, with the first products for the 2.5GHz frequency achieving certification in the coming months.

The products were certified in collaboration with the WiMAX Forum's lead certification testing laboratory, AT4 wireless, in Malaga, Spain, and members of the Telecommunications Technology Association's (TTA) IT Testing & Certification Lab from Seoul, South Korea.

The WiMAX Forum forecasts that more than 1,000 products will undergo Mobile WiMAX certification testing by 2011, representing an influx of new consumer devices and infrastructure equipment to support continued rapid WiMAX user adoption in the 2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, and 3.5GHz frequency bands. The WiMAX Forum's current network of six labs in mainland China, South Korea, Spain, the U.S. and two in Taiwan will expand to eight by the end of 2008 with additions in India and Japan to handle the anticipated certification demand. The WiMAX Forum also plans to open a certification lab in Brazil in 2009.


Click here for more information on the WiMAX Forum