Fitel, Motorola and UTStarcom deploy WiMAX network

First International Telecom (Fitel) is partnering Motorola and UTStarcom to deploy a WiMAX network in northern Taiwan as part of the state-led M-Taiwan programme, Motorola says in a press release. The project is the US vendor’s third WiMAX contract won in Taiwan in the last eight months. Fitel received its WiMAX network operating licence covering northern Taiwan in July 2007, and plans to begin testing WiMAX base stations in the downtown area of Taipei by mid-2008. The M-Taiwan project is a government initiative to accelerate WiMAX development and create a city-wide broadband network to support consumer wireless broadband services. Charlie Wu, president of Fitel, said of the planned rollout: ‘The next generation personal wireless broadband service will enable rich media entertainment and high speed data applications to be delivered to our customers.’ Fitel currently provides mobile communications over a PHS network to approximately 1.5 million subscribers, says TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database.