July 24, 2008
After two or three years of trials and early small-scale or niche deployments worldwide, WiMax is finally moving towards large-scale deployments by some Tier 1 and Tier 2 operators, particularly in emerging markets. Table 1 gives a snapshot of some of this global activity, which the WiMAX Forum in June 2008 believed had reached 305 deployments in 118 countries – up from 260 deployments in 110 countries in April 2008.
Table 1: Some Current WiMax Operators & Service Deployments
Operator | Location | WiMax activities |
Alg�rie T�l�com | Algeria | Deploying WiMax-based Business WLAN service |
Altitude | France | Deploying regional 802.16e WiMax networks to supply corporate, ISP and residential users with primary broadband services |
Always On Network Bangladesh | Bangladesh | WiMax network deliveingr free Internet access to Bangladesh primary schools and colleges, as well as broadband services to underserved rural and urban areas |
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) | India | To spend up to $750 million on mobile 802.16e WiMax networks in India, covering both urban and rural areas. Initial services in late 2008 or early 2009 for broadband and voice; other applications to follow |
Bollor� Telecom | France | Pilot in Paris region in 2007; has 12 regional 802.16e WiMax licences in France |
Brasil Telecom | Brazil | Deploying 802.16e WiMax network in in the cities of S�o Paulo, Curitiba and Porto Alegre and surrounding areas |
Casema | Netherlands | Trial in 2007 as part of government-sponsored Smart Homes project to increase community welfare through telecoms |
Clearwire / Sprint Nextel (merging into new Clearwire company) | USA | Plans to cover 120 - 140 million people by end 2010. First services in some city areas from existing nonmerged companies due late 2008 |
Comstar UTS | Russia | Deploying 802.16e mobile WiMax network in Moscow area for service launch in 2008 |
Consolidated Telecommunications Company | USA | Deploying WiMax networks in central Minnesota for broadband voice and data services |
Digicel Group | Caribbean | Deploying 802.16e WiMax to deliver primary voice, data VPN and residential broadband to both corporate and residential customers in various Caribbean countries |
DigitalBridge Communications | USA | Deploying WiMax broadband services to small and medium-sized communities of up to 150,000 people nationwide. First service in Rexburg, Idaho, in 2007; 12 cities covered by April 2008. Mobile services introduced in Jackson, Wyoming, in June 2008 |
Enforta | Russia | Small office, home office, or business communications services offered by a mix of technologies, including WiMax and pre-WiMax, in a network rollout that reached 32 cities by end 2007 |
Ertach Argentina | Argentina | 2007 802.16e WiMax trial in the city of Rosario, targeting SME and corporate users with primary fixed and nomadic broadband services, high-speed Internet and advanced voice services |
Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication | Saudi Arabia | Deploying WiMax network to offer widespread broadband access; first service beginning in 2008 |
Far EasTone Telecom | Taiwan | Deploying Taipei urban WiMax as part of governments M-Taiwan project |
FREEDOM4 (formerly Pipex Communications) | UK | Two small pilot city rollouts in 2007; plans national mobile WiMax network |
Grupo TVCable | Ecuador | Voice-over-WiMax service |
HiTs Africa | Africa | Planning to use WiMax in various African countries |
Iberbanda | Spain | Offering high-speed Internet, telephony, data transmission and value-dded services in various regions |
Kenya Data Networks | Kenya | KDN Butterfly WiMax-based network offers voice and data services in various Kenyan cities |
KPN | Netherlands | Ran WiMax versus HSPA test in 2007 |
Iliad | France | Trials in 2007 |
Libya Telecom & Technology (LTT) | Libya | Deploying 802.16e WiMax network to cover Tripoli and seven other main cities |
Max Telecom | Bulgaria | Deploying national 802.16e mobile WiMax broadband service |
MetroBridge | Canada, USA | Fixed WiMax (no mobility) serving businesses only (no residential customers) in British Columbia, Utah and Arizona |
Mipps | Canada | Trials of 802.16e fixed broadband wireless access in 2007 |
Mobilink | Pakistan | Deploying 802.16e WiMax broadband service in major cities |
Monarch Communications | Nigeria | Deploying 802.16e WiMax services for businesses, SOHO, SME and residences. Rollout is planned to begin in Lagos and later in Abuja and Port Harcourt |
MSTelecom | Angola | Depolying 802.16e WiMax to support residential and SOHO IP services in Northern Angola |
MyTel | Pakistan | Started deployment of WiMax for voice and data communications in Northern Region in 2006 |
ONEMAX | Dominican Republic | Offers Internet, multimedia and VOIP on 802.16e WiMax |
OPEL | Australia | To deploy 1361 WiMax base stations by mid-2009 as part of government-backed Australia Connected national broadband open wholesale service (also uses DSL) |
Pacific Internet Philippines | Philippines | Initial WiMax deployment in Greater Metro-Manila area for business services |
Personal | Paraguay | Network completed in Asunci�n and Great Asunci�n in 2007, with continuing national rollout, offering business and residential services |
Pipeline Wireless | USA | Pre-WiMax deployment in Boston metro area being migrated to WiMax mid-2008 for fixed high-bandwidth services with QOS |
Primus Telecommunications Canada | Canada | Trials of 802.16e broadband wireless access in 2007 |
Reliance Communications | India | Plans to deploy WiMax in India |
Saudi Telecom | Saudi Arabia | Deploying 802.16e WiMax network in major cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam |
SHD (SFR/Neuf Cegetel JV) | France | 802.16e WiMax service in Paris, and planned for Ile-de-France (IDF) and Provence-Alpes-C�te d�Azur (PACA) regions by mid-2009 |
Solo Direct Connect | USA | 802.16e WiMax broadband service in greater Quad Cities Area including Davenport and Bettendorf, IA as well Moline/East Moline and Rock Island, IL |
Sprint Nextel (meging with Clearwire to form new Clearwire) | USA | XOHM mobile WiMax commercial services start in Baltimore (third quarter 2008) and in Chicago and Washington, DC (fourth quarter) |
Summa Telecom | Russia | Plans to build a nationwide WiMax network that will cover some 330 cities by 2010 with fixed and later mobile broadband serivices |
Tata Communications | India | Deploying in 10 Indian cities, including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. Plans to spend between $500 million and $600 million by 2010 on WiMax networks in India |
Telekom Slovenije | Slovenia | WiMax trials began in 2007 |
Telenor | Norway | Deploying WiMax as fill-in to DSL coverage in rural areas |
Telkom | South Africa | Launched Do Broadband Wireless WiMax service in 2007 as DSL fill-in initially |
Towerstream | USA | Deploying commercial 802.16e WiMax fixed service in several US cities during 2008; may introduce nomadic services later |
TransTelecom | Bulgaria | Initial deployment of 802.16d WiMax in 2006, now upgrading with 802.16e mobile WiMax network, covering central business districts and hot spots in the country's major cities |
TVA | Brazil | Trial in Rio Janeiro of 802.16e WiMax |
United Information Highway Company | Thailand | Trials completed in 2008 in Bangkok and Phuket of 802.16e WiMax |
Unwired Group | Australia | Pre-WiMax ISP to deploy 802.16e mobile WiMax |
VDC | Vietnam | Trial deployment in remote village with Intel |
Vipfone | Spain | Broadband access in Almeria province since 2007 |
VSE NET | Germany | 802.16e WiMax Saar regional 6Mbit/s broadband service in 2008 |
VTR | Chile | Deploying 802.16e WiMax to reach 3.4 million homes nationally |
Warid | Uganda | Deploying IMS/WiMax network to support advanced services |
Wateen Telecom | Pakistan | Deploying national 802.16e WiMax network in Pakistan |
Wideway Do Brasil | Brazil | Deploying national WiMax network in Brazil |
WiMax Telecom | Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Croatia | Deploying 802.16d and 802.16e WiMax networks mainly for residential broadband Internet and VOIP since 2005. Currently expanding in Croatia (initially the areas of Split and Osijek followed by other regions) and Switzerland. Plans advanced multimedia services |
Worldmax | Netherlands | Deploying national 802.16e mobile WiMax service |
ZAIN | Bahrain | Deployed national WiMax network for high-speed fixed and nomadic internet and voice services in 2007 |
In the U.S., despite the increasing commitment to WiMax by numbers of smaller operators and service providers, there has been some media feeling that WiMax has stalled a little. This is primarily because of the on-again/off-again Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR) national mobile WiMax project. This acquired symbolic significance as potentially being the first Tier 1 mobile operator in a big developed market to commit to WiMax for a major national service – but things seemed to be going awry. (See, for example, Sprint Quiet on WiMax Launch Date and Clearwire Q4 Drops, WiMax News Doesn't.) The feeling went that, if Sprint Nextel, which clearly needs something to boost its sagging competitive position in mobile, couldn’t make national Tier 1 WiMax fly, would anyone else bother to try?
However, the recent proposal to fold Clearwire’s and Sprint Nextel’s WiMax assets into a new company (confusingly also called Clearwire), and the bringing in of substantial big-name strategic investors such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) could mark a change in perceptions. (See Sprint, Clearwire Create $14.5B WiMax Giant.)
“Sprint's WiMax plans had almost meant there was one major player behind WiMax in the U.S., but Sprint's recent troubles had always cast some doubt on whether the project would ever really take off,” says Jan Dawson, practice leader for Wireline, Wholesale, and Regulation at Ovum Ltd. “The new deal puts a number of other serious players and considerable investment behind the project, and makes it much more likely to achieve significant results. The real test will be when the new Clearwire actually starts to offer services, but it at least has the potential to make a big impact on the U.S. market.”
He points out, too, that a consortium of this size is bound to benefit the global market for WiMax through the additional scale it will bring to infrastructure and device markets, which will help to lower prices. Success would also lend credibility to other deployments around the world. However, although Intel and Google are involved, and will contribute to Clearwire's success, both companies have much more interest in maintaining a degree of neutrality in order to boost the much wider markets for wireless services, so they will not give the new venture preferential treatment. The cable companies and other partners also provide a significant potential distribution channel for the services, although each will use its own brand, so the overall impact that might have been achieved under a single brand will be diluted. The U.S. WiMax story is still running...
Read the entire 12-page report here.
— Tim Hills is a freelance telecommunications writer and journalist. He's a regular author of Light Reading reports.
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