China's ZTE Strikes WiMAX Equipment Deal with Sprint Nextel

ZTE Corp., China’s second largest manufacturer of telecom equipment, has been awarded the contract for supplying wireless equipment toSprint ( News - Alert) Nextel. Mr. Hou Weigui, chairman, ZTE Corporation, and Barry West, President, 4G Mobile Broadband, Sprint, signed a master purchase agreement at Sprint’s Herndon, Virginia Office.
“We chose ZTE (News - Alert) because we found the company to be a cutting-edge innovator backed by the engineering resources of an established, leading global brand,” said West.

Sprint hopes to reach at least 100 million WiMAX customers in the United States by the end of next year, which is where ZTE will play a pivotal role. As the customers are signed, ZTE USA will provide theWiMAX PC cards in express and USB form factors, as well as advanced modem solutions for home networking.

Sprint will employ ZTE’s express and USB cards to provide its subscribers wireless data access on their laptops, desktops, or mobile devices. Other wireline service providers also benefit from ZTE’s enhanced presence in the U.S., as they will have access to ZTE’s home modem, which can replace their existing home cable modem to provide fixed broadband wireless services and VoIP-based voice services.

“This is an exciting day for ZTE and a significant company milestone. We are honored to be a WiMAX (News - Alert) ecosystem partner, chosen by Sprint to provide solutions for its advanced wireless broadband network,” said Mr. Hou Weigui. “Maximizing our deep R&D resources and ability to continually and quickly innovate to keep up with market demand, we are looking forward to working with Sprint to bring the next generation of wireless innovation to U.S. end users.”

ZTE’s latest deal with Sprint Nextel comes as it looks to increase its presence in the mature Western markets. ZTE inked its first UK deal in March, while last month, its competitorHuawei Technologies ( News - Alert) won a contract with Vodafone Spain.

Russia is to become mobile WiMax pioneer

July 26, 2007, Thu 09:30 AM Moscow

One of the first in the world WiMax mobile data transmission network is to be launched in five largest Russian cities in November, 2007. The experts believe WiMax investment is nevertheless very risky, as the producers have not presented certified equipment in the market yet.
One of the most intriguing novices in the Russian Telecommunication market is the Summa Telecom Company, having been granted a rather profound frequency resource across Russia. On Wednesday the Company announced the launch of its own network. In current November WiMax wireless data transmission network is to be launched into exploitation. The first cities the given network to be launched in are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok.

Summa Telecom is not the first company to announce its ambitions, concerning WiMax. Such standard networks are being launched in various regions by Synterra, Start-Telecom, Comstar-UTS, Media-Nets, Prestige-Internet. As there is no WiMax standardized equipment, the mentioned networks are called pre-WiMax. The given technology is to be integrated with WiMax in the future. “Unlike our competitors we are not to get engaged into pre-WiMax implementation, but to launch the network, using the original WiMax equipment, - Igor Ryabtsev, Summa Telecom Press Secretary says. – The other distinction is that out network is to provide mobile but not fixed-line services”.

Summa Telecom is also to offer its subscribers triple-play mobile version, i.e. the internet access (in theory the maximum speed is 100 Mb per second), IT-telephony, and stream video. Next summer Summa Telecom plans to put into commission the far ranging telecommunication network, which is to provide its customers with additional cheaper inter-city and international communication services. Large corporate clients are to become the first operator’s subscribers, for example the Emergency Situations Ministry. The Company is to enter the mass market, however high subscriber’s equipment cost is to serve as a limit, coming up to $ 1 thousand. The Company is likely to provide its services under the Sumtel brand, although the question has not been settled yet.

The Russians are practically the first in the world to test mobile WiMax
The Russians are practically the first in the world to test mobile WiMax

Although, the WiMax subscriber’s equipment has already been developed, there are no networks based on the given technology. Only South Korea has a Wibro standard mobile network, possible to integrate with WiMax. The number of its subscribers is 1000. “Year 2007 is to become the turning point for WiMax. After several years of discussion different producers are to present compatible hardware at last. Only after that it might become possible to assess the real prospects of the given technology, - Konstantin Ankilov, IKS-Consulting Analysts says. – However, if we are to speak about WiMax, the given service is not to be in great demand in the beginning. The subscriber’s equipment shortage is obvious to be experienced at first, and the technology itself will not be perfect”.

Mr. Ankilov forecasts, mobile WiMax is to interest only technical enthusiasts, and WiMax future depends on their opinion. Summa Telecom is to experience even higher equipment shortage than the other operators, a representative of one of the Russian companies, which is going to launch mobile WiMax, informs anonymously. “Summa launches networks in 2.5-2.7 GHz ranges, while in Europe and Southeastern Asia WiMax is being developed in other frequencies, vendors are to direct to”, - Summa Telecom potential competitor representative says.

However, Summa Telecom is not going to limit the range of supplied services to WiMax only. The Company also plans to launch the fourth nationwide GSM network after MTS, VimpelCom, and MegaFon. Though, the Company is to launch GSM networks in 2-3 years. In addition, unlike WiMax Summa has not got the nationwide license for mobile communication yet. But the Company is the winner in a numb er of the Far eastern tenders on GSM-frequencies distribution, and might rely on acquiring licenses in about other 60 Russian areas. Summa Telecom is going to spend $ 600 mln. to launch GSM networks, the main aim of entering the mobile communication market being accumulation of the subscribers’ base to attract the users to WiMax networks, while corresponding equipment cheapens.

Intel plans mobile WiMax equipment push next year

Look for a major campaign centered around mobile WiMax next year, as networks and hardware supporting the technology launch.

Matthew Broersma
PC World
Thursday, August 2, 2007; 12:19 AM

The WiMax hype machine may be getting ready to crank into life once again, with Intel planning a major campaign around mobile WiMax next year, connected to the launch of networks and hardware supporting the technology.

Next year major network rollouts and the launch of hardware supporting the mobile broadband standard will for the first time allow WiMax to complement (or compete with) wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi and 3G, said Intel.

The fixed-WiMax standard has been around for years, but only now is mobile WiMax, based on the IEEE 802.16e standard, coming into availability. Mobile WiMax offers a theoretical throughput of up to 70Mbit/s for as far as 37 miles, meaning that corporate and individual users could have access to broadband anywhere in the coverage area, using any WiMax-equipped device.

Actual speeds are likely to average between 2Mbit/s and 4Mbit/s, according to operators.

Tuesday saw the announcement that two major U.S. carriers -- Sprint Nextel and Clearwire -- will collaborate on the country's first nationwide mobile WiMax network, a US$3 billion project the companies said they expect to give a boost to the adoption of WiMax in other markets, such as Western Europe, that already have a high saturation of wired and wireless internet connectivity. The network is expected to begin offering services in the first half of next year.

In the U.K., Nortel is in mobile WiMax tests with Urban WiMax, a company that already provides fixed WiMax service, as well as Macropolitan, which manages sites where operators place network equipment, the companies said on Monday.

Intel is planning to take the opportunity of the Sprint-Clearwire launch, along with that of its own WiMax-enabled mobile processors, to launch a major campaign around mobile WiMax, according to Sriram Viswanathan, VP and general manager of Intel's WiMax Program Office.

Intel is launching "Montevina," a notebook processor supporting both Wi-Fi and mobile WiMax, in the second half of 2008. PC manufacturers are expected to begin announcing Montevina-based products four to six months, according to Viswanathan.

On Friday, Nortel, Urban WiMax and Macropolitan held a video conference between the U.K., Canada, and the U.S. using laptops equipped with PC cards that use mobile WiMax signals, said Sasha Williamson, chief executive of Urban WiMax. Other trials in the U.K. will follow to get feedback from end users on issues such as pricing and overall experience with the technology, he said.

Some have said the widespread deployment of Wi-Fi and 3G, especially in Western countries, has made mobile WiMax redundant.

But Intel argues that WiMax will be more appealing to users than 3G for internet applications, because it can combine home or office and mobile internet access into one technology, much as Wi-Fi does on a more localized scale.

A report this week from West Technology Research Solutions (WTRS) found that mobile WiMax could in fact find a substantial market in Western countries by opening up new types of end-user services.

"The impetus for a WiMax market development and expansion is the growth of services in end-user applications that utilize the expanded mobility and high bandwidth that WiMax affords," said WTRS principal analyst Kirsten West in a statement.

WiMax is also expected to catch on for backhaul uses and in developing countries, where competing wired and wireless infrastructure is less well established.

Three Taiwan WiMAX licensees obligated to have portions of equipment made locally

Hot systems
Bryan Chuang, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES [Friday 27 July 2007]

First International Telecom, Tatung Telecom and Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), three of the six winning applicants awarded WiMAX operating licenses on July 26 by Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC), will be required to have certain percentages of their WiMAX equipment produced by Taiwan-based manufacturers.

The obligations are due to the fact that these operators are involved in subsidized WiMAX-related R&D projects under the government's Mobile Taiwan (M-Taiwan) Program, according to the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Mobile communications operators undertaking such R&D projects should, as specified in their contracts, have a percentage their procurements comprised of Taiwan-made equipment, IDB pointed out. The percentages are: 20% minimum for base stations, 80-100% for CPE (customer premises equipment), and 50% minimum for the whole infrastructure, IDB indicated.

The other three licensees are not under any obligations as they are not participants in the M-Taiwan Program, IDB noted