Yesterday, Saudi Arabian telecom company Etihad Atheeb launched its GO WiMax service in western Saudi city Al-Medina. This expands Etihad Atheeb’s current Saudi Arabia launch with Motorola.
“Broadband internet services ‘WiMAX’ is an ideal solution that meets the needs for the people in Al Medina, GO WiMAX requires no waiting period or a land line, And the WiMAX nomadic feature will enable them to enjoy broadband internet at any place within GO network coverage,” said Etihad Atheeb CEO Dr. Ahmed bin Abbas Sindi.
GO WiMax will be accessible for users in Rashid Mall Center, International Mall and Aaliah Mall.… Read the rest
Last week Australian-based Adam Internet announced that it will begin rolling out WiMax in Adelaide’s metropolitan area over the next 15 months. Australian telecom news site Commsday is reporting that Alvarion will be providing fixed WiMax deployment for the project.
“We chose the Alvarion product because they have over five deployments where they’ve done this over the exact same terrain, demographic material… the same spectrum, even,” said Scott Hicks, managing director of Adam Internet.
This could be a several million dollar deal for Alvarion.
In a recent interview with WiMax.com, Siavash Alamouti, the CTO of Intel’s Mobile Wireless Group, expressed his views about mobile internet-related topics including mobile WiMax.
Alamouti recognizes that consumers want decent mobile internet access, but companies are not providing it. Instead they are focusing on voice and low data rate communications such as texting, SMS and emails. Although devices like the iPhone offer Internet access, its functionality is not equivalent to that of a computer.
Alamouti believes that mobile service should allow 1 to 5 Mbps downstream at a monthly rate of no more than $30 a month. This is difficult to accomplish on a cellular network. This is why the WiMax community has created the IEEE 802.16e standard.
Alamouti’s components for Mobile Internet success include real Internet access and affordable rates and billing plans. To keep up with increased usage, providers will need more spectrum to provide consumers with more bandwidth. Mobile WiMax features are conducive to this. As long as the service is reasonably priced, people will utilize it.
Australian-based Adam Internet will rollout WiMax in Adelaide’s metropolitan area.
The project, dubbed “AdamMax,” will be funded by South Australian and Federal Governments. AdamMax’s first connection is expected to be working in October. The entire rollout is expected to take place over the course of 15 months.
“AdamMax will effectively blanket metropolitan Adelaide, lighting up blackspot areas and providing a service that is fast, reliable and value for money,” said Scott Hicks, Adam Internet managing director.
After a 12 month long tender process, $3 million will be invested by the SA government for infrastructure acceleration and $12 will come from the ISP for the rollout. For every eligible customer denied a broadband service in Adelaide’s metropolitan area, the Australian Broadband Guarantee will give Adam Internet $2000 for setup cost for customers.… Read the rest
Yesterday Proxim announced that it received $7.5 million in equity investment. SRA OSS, Inc., a subsidiary of SRA Holdings, Inc. of Japan, has invested $5 million, while the remaining $2.5 comes from existing investors.
This investment allows Proxim to improve development and marketing of its WiMax and 4G solutions.
“SRA brings a wealth of wireless software solutions and services expertise, which will help round out our carrier, service provider, government and enterprise solutions portfolio worldwide,” said Proxim President and CEO, Pankaj Manglik.
On Tuesday the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was ordered by President Yar’Adua to revoke the 2.3 GHz licenses after months of criticism that they were awarded unfairly.
“After availing himself of competent advice on the recent licensing of the 2.3-GHz spectrum band, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has come to the conclusion that the letters and spirit of the stipulated rules and guidelines were not adequately complied with,” said presidential spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi in a Vanguard report.
The winners (Mobitel Nigeria, Multilinks and Spectranet) are expected to receive refunds and will be eligible for the next license auction. Despite the setback, Mobitel will rollout their service offerings this coming October in the 2.2 GHz band.… Read the rest
Yesterday, Kenya-based mobile firm Safaricom announced that it had acquired Packetstream Data Networks, a 25-person company that provides service to Kenya’s major urban centres.
This is the second local WiMax operator that Safaricom has acquired. Last year the leading Kenyan mobile firm purchased Onecom in a $2.6 million deal. Currently, Onecom is partially owned by British-based Vodacom, but Safaricom plans to increase its ownership to 100 percent by 2010.
Of the new deal with Packetstream, CEO Michael Joseph said in a news conference, “It complements our acquisition of 51 percent in Onecom.”
Safaricom’s plans for the future include increasing data services and product range in the voice division. The company is already on its way with the launch of its underwater fibre-optic cable the SEACOM. The SEACOM offers broadband internet to customers and links east Africa to Europe, India, the Middle East and South Africa. This is thefirst of Safaricom’s three fibre-optic cables.… Read the rest
On Tuesday, Clearwire posted a loss of $73.4 million (38 cents a share) for the second quarter, compared to a loss of $74.6 million (40 cents a share) last year. Net loss for the quarter was $264.04 million, compared to $281.73 million in the same quarter last year.
Clearwire Corp. provides broadband wireless service based on high-speed WiMax Technology. Currently in four cities, the company is in a race to deploy its WiMax service in 25 markets by the end of the year. According to CEO William Morrow, Clearwire aims to reach more than 80 markets by the end of 2010, with access to over 120 million people.
Total subscriber count of Clearwire rose about 11%, increased to approximately 511,000, up from approximately 461,000 at the end of the second quarter in 2008. Although slight improvements from last year, the new numbers disappointed stockholders: Shares fell to $7.85 in late trade, after closing at $8.43 in the regular Nasdaq session.
These products are complements to TRG’s WiMax products in the 3.3 GHz band and will be produced in the Indonesian cities of Batam, Bandung and Jakarta.
Last month, eight companies were awarded spectrum at 2.3 GHz by the Indonesian government. These companies included dominant Indonesian telecom operator PT Telkom.
On August 21, telecom operators, global WiMax technology operators and policy makers alike will assemble at the sixth annual WiMax India conference at Le Meridien New Delhi.
According to conference organizer Bharat Exhibitions, this year’s conference will focus on the delivery of next generation broadband services using WiMAX, 802.16x and similar proprietary standards.
Topics of discussion include:
business models
business opportunities and threats
costs and financing
crucial issues of standards & interoperability
how WiMAX can compliment other telecommunications offerings
international success stories & lessons learnt from large-scale WiMAX deployments
network optimization & frequency planning
spectrum and licensing
strategies for capturing the mobile market
using WiMAX as a means of delivering broadband services to the bush
“WiMAX India 2009 will help in strategising a strong vision for WiMAX technology as it is an ideal stage between the key influencers and decision makers under one roof. This year’s event will also develop innovative marketing tools for boosting the penetration of WiMAX usage in smaller cities and rural areas,” said Shashi Dharan, mananging director of Bharat Exhibitions.
This is the India’s only WiMax event even though it has the fastest growing telecom industry with subscribers expected to reach 14 million by 2013 with annual growth rates of 130%.
“Broadband internet services ‘WiMAX’ is an ideal solution that meets the needs for the people in Al Medina, GO WiMAX requires no waiting period or a land line, And the WiMAX nomadic feature will enable them to enjoy broadband internet at any place within GO network coverage,” said Etihad Atheeb CEO Dr. Ahmed bin Abbas Sindi.
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