Global WiMAX Rollouts
July 12, 2006
As of July 2006, WiMAX service had been trialed in more than 50 countries worldwide. At least twelve countries already have commercially deployed WiMAX service. Many more markets had WiMAX service in early deployment or planning stages.
Excerpts from our first WiMAX Market Tracker newsletter are attached below.
Data from TeleGeography’s WiMAX Market Tracking Service is now available in the GlobalComms Database Service.
TeleGeography’s WiMAX Market Tracker
Volume 1, July 2006
FEATURE
Intel Sets up WiMAX Ventures with Orascom and Enertel
Intel Capital, the venture capital investment arm of Intel Corporation, has announced agreements to form WiMAX joint ventures with two firms, Egypt’s Orascom Telecom and Enertel Holding of the Netherlands. Intel will set up Orascom Telecom WiMAX Limited with Orascom Telecom and Worldmax with Enertel. Both investments are expected to be completed shortly, following the fulfilment of certain conditions and the receipt of various approvals. The telco partners will be the majority shareholders, with Intel as the lead investor…
NETWORK NEWS
Intel and Motorola have invested a total of USD900 million in the US-based wireless broadband operator Clearwire. Intel has agreed to pump USD600 million into the firm which currently offers services using proprietary technology developed by its subsidiary NextNet Wireless. Motorola, meanwhile, will pay USD300 million to acquire NextNet and take an unspecified stake in Clearwire.
Russia’s Start Telecom says it plans to begin the rollout of a WiMAX wireless broadband network which will cover five cities by the end of the year. The firm’s CEO, Pavel Kaplunov, told Vedemosti newspaper that the telco will be spending around USD500,000 in each city…
MARKET ANALYSIS Europe’s First Rollouts
2006 is set to be the year that WiMAX technology emerges from the sidelines and stakes its place as a serious contender in the broadband marketplace. Late 2005 saw the first commercial launches of fixed WiMAX systems and more are following as 2006 progresses. There has of course been much interest in the technology, with at least 175 trial deployments worldwide by April this year, but it is now that 16d WiMAX is becoming a ‘real’ technology. The launch of self-install indoor subscriber units in the second half of this year can only improve its prospects…
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Alvarion: Wired for Wireless
Alvarion was established in Israel 13 years ago under the name Breezecom, and the Breeze motif lives on through the vendor’s flagship wireless broadband product range, BreezeMAX. Having always been involved in the wireless networking sector, the firm has built itself a significant presence in the broadband market, expanding out of the wireless local loop sector to release its first pre-WiMAX gear in May 2004. By the end of the following year the firm was claiming around 30% of the overall wireless broadband equipment market and 80% of the WiMAX sector, a market which it estimates is worth between USD10 million and USD20 million now but will grow into a USD10 billion industry with the advent of mobile solutions…
WIMAX ARENA: MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
June
1 Malaysia: NasionCom planning USD55 million nationwide network
1 Russia: Start Telecom says it will launch in five cities by year-end
5 Russia: Peterstar plans Kaliningrad network for late-06/early-07
3 Bermuda: North Rock announces plans to launch WiMAX in 2H-06
6 Russia: Sibirtelecom unveils plans to trial WiMAX in three cities by end-06
10 Brazil: City of Porto Alegre plans to roll out its own WiMAX network
14 Cyprus: OmniGlobe orders WiMAX gear from Proxim
14 Canada: Sogetel planning 4,300 square km network in Quebec
15 Vietnam: VDC to begin trials in Jul-06
19 Poland: PTC threatened with losing its licence if it fails to deploy networks
20 Ukraine: Government invites bids for WiMAX licences in the 5.8GHz band
21 Russia: Enforta launches networks in 15 cities
22 World: Alvarion’s BreezeMAX equipment certified by WiMAX Forum…
