The 4G wireless network was officially launched by Mada Communications in Jordan on Monday, confirming that headway is being made toward increasing internet penetration in the country since its initial implementation. The network is based on Motorola’s WiMax 802.16e technology and can offer download speeds reaching 8Mbits/s. The network was built on the company’s unique Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) backbone, which has more than 170 wireless sites within the kingdom and a wide variety of dedicated wireless and fiber internet connectivity options.

This most recent development demonstrates real growth and progress of WiMax in Jordan. Just last March, Mada Communications and Motorola partnered on the commercial launch of an end-to-end 802.16e-based WiMax network, offering customers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) voice and high speed data through broadband wireless services. At the time, the services were only available to wireless internet subscribers in Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa with hopes of major growth elsewhere. Presently, barely nine months following the initial launch of WiMax in these three areas, the network has expanded to also cover Aqaba, Madaba, Jerash, Salt and the Dead Sea.

CEO of Mada, Charles Hage, told reporters that the network will cover more major cities in 2010 and mentioned that by the end of next year, the 4G wireless network will cover 90 percent of the country. Hage added that the network will help increase the rate of internet penetration which currently stands at 28 percent.