Clearwire, LLC. cannot switch from mobile WiMax to Long Term Evolution (LTE) until 2011 due to a contract the corporation has signed with Intel Corp., Unstrung reports.

Even though Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow is open to switching to LTE in the future, the company’s most recent Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August, shows that an agreement with Intel, WiMax’s biggest promoter, ties Clearwire to the  wireless broadband technology.

Clearwire might consider switching to LTE for competitive reasons, such as lower cost and vendors developing and deploying alternative technologies. Finally, Morrow noted that Clearwire was a WiMax company for the “foreseeable future,”– and it’s clear now that this will not change until at least the end of 2011.

MediaG3 enters the WiMax market MediaG3, Inc. a Santa Ciara, California, based Internet service provider has announced today in a press release that they will be offering WiMax services under the umbrella of their Imperial Wireless(TM) 4G WiMax platform. The service will be launched in Boise, Idaho and will mobile internet service at true broadband speeds. The company plans to reach up to 70 markets consisting of over 10 million people by the end of 2011.

Currently Media G3, delivers mobile internet service to 20 US markets, targeting both commercial and residential consumers. “We have great expectations that our roll-out strategy will be met with substantial demand from the markets we are pursuing, said Joseph L. Anzalone, President & COO of MediaG3. “Current estimates show that the growth potential of the market for mobile Internet services is approximately $55 billion over the next few years.”

CEOs, CTOs and other important figures of major corporations convened at the Wimax Analyst Event Show at Crowne Plaza in New York City on Sept. 15 2009 to present the latest developments in the wimax industry. Bill Morrow, CEO of Clearwire, explained that 4G technology will take wifi to the next level by substantially increasing downlink connection speed and allowing much larger data packets to be transmitted. Wimax will provide faster mobile access to multimedia and video with a lower bit error rate. Additionally, wimax works with wifi antenna which makes the technology easy and inexpensive to integrate into the current network. A 4G Phone is expected to hit the market in 2011. The phone will have dual mode capability, supporting both wimax and wifi. In addition, it will have a 1+ GHz Processor, rich visual 3D imaging, and a dual video camera. Morrow also introduced a “killer 4G application” that allows cloud computing while on the go. The technology is enabled via HTML 5 browser technology. While the application enriches the end users’ web experience, it demands true broadband connectivity which wimax provides.

Yegor Ivanov, Director of International Development at YOTA, said that the Russian company reached 100,000 subscribers in August 2009 and expects to reach 200,000 by the end of the year. Currently, YOTA gets an average of 2000 new subscribers daily. Since April 2009, 65 SKU’s from six vendors (Acer, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung, Asus, Toshiba) with data embedded chip sets were introduced to the Russian market. YOTA plans to provide service in 180 Russian cities by the end of 2009.

“Consumers will come to expect the four “any’s” – any device, any where, any time, and any content,” Mike Roudi, Group VP at Time Warner Cable, says. TWC sees 4G as an extra feature to broadband, a feature that will bring end users one step closer to meeting their many “any’s”.

Another keynote speaker representing the wimax industry was CEO of DigitalBridge Communications, Kelley Dunne. He announced that their network will be upgraded to IEEE 802.16e mobile within the next 60 days. They also support 40 MHz of spectrum even in their smallest markets. Multi-taskers will be happy. They soon will be able to skype, listen to Pandora radio and surf the web simultaneously on their mobile device.

After Dunne, Fumio Watanabe,  CTO at UQ Communications came into the spotlight.  UQ currently provides wimax service to Japanese users for 49 USD/month offering free wifi hot spot access for UQ wimax account holders. Concerning download speed, UQ wimax currently has max. 40 Mbps downlink, and max. 10 Mbps uplink. The company promotes open networks through MVNO. Watanabe expects most cities in Japan to switch to wimax soon, as it benefits Internet users with a connection that is faster than ADSL. Presently, UQ is working to upgrade its standard from Wimax Rel. 1.0 (Wave 2) IEEE 802.16e to Wimax Rel. 2.0 IEEE 802.16m.

Looking at another Asian market, Michael Lai, CEO of Packet 1 Networks, explained why Malaysia had great market growth potential. Currently, only 7.5% of Malaysian households have broadband. Yet, the Malaysian government is determined to raise that rate with a promotion of PC-to-BB access. In fact, they put BB penetration on the national agenda covered under the NBP (National Boradband Plan) that aims to achieve 50% BB household penetration by 2010. Being a leading communications company in Malaysia, P1 is key player in achieving that goal. P1 carries a USB wimax modem called ‘Wiggi’. It has IEEE 802.16e and download speed of up to 10Mbps. In order to make internet access more affordable to every Malaysian, P1 also offers a cheaper version to the Wiggi subscription (42USD/month). The less costly alternative comes with ‘Wiggi 69’,  a modem that allows download speeds of up to 800Kbps at a cost of 20USD/month. With its 25,000 subscribers, P1 owns 32% of the Malaysian broadband market. Lai illustrated  the situation with a William Gibson quote, “The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet.”

Even though end-users harvest most of the benefits that wimax brings, wimax also opens up great opportunities for businesses. Paget Alves, President Business Markets Group at Sprint listed several benefits to retailers who offer wimax service or wimax enabled devices. Besides the 4G halo effect, the churn benefits that 4G brings about include incentives for customers to renew their contract. For businesses, going wimax also translates into improved customer retention from multiple service offerings. Last but not least,  going wimax should improve profitability as service providers can offload 3G CDMA traffic to a low cost/bit wimax network.

Two products stood out from the rest – the Moovbox M200 and LiveEdge. The award-winning Moovbox M200 from Icomera is the “first fully ruggedised in-vehicle mobile broadband gateway that leverages multiple carrier networks to deliver Ethernet, Wi-Fi and GPS on the move,” according to Icomera.com. Nomad Innovations presented its LiveEdge 2.0  wireless solution for live news coverage that operates on both nationwide 3G networks and wireless or wired broadband networks and would eliminate the need of bringing a news truck, thereby significantly lowering costs for broadcasters.

To sum up, the Wimax Analyst Event Show was a huge success with many key role players attending. Investors had the opportunity to learn about the industry directly from the experts and gain perspective about various companies involved in promoting wimax access.

Find exclusive interviews with Sanjiv Gulpta and Tim Sweeney (Intel), Paget Alves (Sprint) and Kelley Dunne (DigitalBridge) at GoingWimax Youtube channel.

Milpitas, CA (Vocus/PRWEB ) September 17, 2009 — Aperto Networks, a WiMAX pioneer and technology leader, announced today that Washington State-based PocketiNet Communications has chosen PacketMAX fixed WiMAX products to build a region-wide WiMAX wireless broadband network in Southeast Washington, known as the Columbia Basin area. The network went live in May of this year with launches in the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla markets after over one year of testing. Prior to PocketiNet’s launch of services, residents and business in the rural tri-State area had limited broadband choices, such as costly T1 lines. PocketiNet plans to continue deploying the WiMax technology in other areas on its network in the upcoming year.

We’re pleased to offer this latest generation of WiMAX fixed wireless service to our region PocketiNet has always strived to provide innovative solutions and next-generation applications which equates to a better level of service to our customers and our testing showed that Aperto’s PacketMAX was more than up to the challenge.

“PacketMAX is the result of our over 10 years and 20 patents of pioneering leadership in WiMAX,” said Brian Deutsch, CEO of Aperto Networks. “We are only able to attract quality broadband operators like PocketiNet because of our commitment to building the best and most versatile fixed WiMAX solution on the planet. And PocketiNet’s ability to close the business case with residential users proves the cost efficiency of PacketMAX.”

Aperto’s PacketMAX is available in both 802.16d and 802.16e variants, enabling customers to pick the version of solution that best meets their frequency and application needs. PacketMAX also offers a powerful network management platform with advanced features for real-time monitoring and control of all network elements. PacketMAX consists of high performance, carrier-class base stations and a broad family of cost-effective subscriber units. PacketMAX subscriber units are co-developed with and contract manufactured by Tranzeo Wireless Technologies

(TSX:TZT).
About PocketiNet Communications
PocketiNet Communications, Inc is a regional Internet Service Provider servicing 14 communities throughout Eastern Washington and Northeast Oregon. The company delivers business class Internet and Wide Area Network solutions to business and enterprise customers as well as a host of value-added Internet services. PocketiNet has offices in Kennewick and Walla Walla, WA and was founded in 2000 with the mission of bringing advanced Internet solutions to rural communities.

About APERTO
Aperto Networks helps service providers worldwide profitably deliver affordable wireless voice and broadband services by building the world’s most advanced fixed and mobile WiMAX Forum Certified base stations and subscriber units. Aperto fundamentally changes the economics of delivering voice and broadband services through IP-rich, point-to-point and point-to-multipoint networks, allowing carriers to offer a wider variety of services to more customers using less equipment. Its carrier-grade WiMAX technology offers industry-leading subscriber density, quality of service, ease of use, and reliability. Aperto is a founding board member of the WiMAX Forum, as well as a founder and lead contributor to IEEE 802.16 and the ETSI-BRAN standards. Serving more than 400 customers in 90 countries, Aperto Networks is based in Milan.

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co.  said Monday it has signed a deal with an Iranian company to supply technology that helps facilitate high-speed wireless Internet connectivity.

Datak Telecom Inc., one of Iran’s major mobile carriers, recently agreed to use Samsung’s WiMAX network and other facilities exclusively for its mobile service, according to Samsung. The financial terms were not disclosed.

WiMAX, the acronym for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is one of the latest telecommunications technologies that allows wireless data transmission at broadband-like speed. South Korea has its own technology, dubbed WiBro, used in commercial service.

Samsung has provided equipment to 25 Mobile WiMAX operators in 21 countries. The company has recently beefed up efforts to export equipment and networks for the wireless technology to the Middle East, signing a deal with Saudi Arabia’s mobile carrier Mobily in June and with Kuwait’s mobile carrier MADA Communications Inc. in December.

The industry-led, non-profit corporation WiMAX Forum forecast that there will bemore than 133 million subscribers worldwide by 2012.

Clear WiMax Services Now in Las Vegas -June 2, 2009 (Wimax News). Clearwire LLC is now selling WiMax services in Las Vegas ahead of an official launch this summer. The coverage maps now available on Clear.com are extensive and indicate that most of the metro Las Vegas area has been covered. Marketing activities will be announced as part of the full commercial launch but Clear-Internet.com is already selling Clear’s home and mobile wimax package.

• Latest WiMAX Forum Events Show Global Congress was a Success – June 10, 2009 (Wimax News). “The ultimate goal of the WiMAX Forum is to promote and accelerate the introduction of cost-effective broadband wireless access services into the marketplace,” the organization’s corporate website states.  At the closing of the WiMAX Forum’s 2009 Global Congress, several marked achievements fulfilled these initiatives.
• Worldwide WiMAX: Can America Keep Up? – June 9, 2009 (Going Wimax). If you rifle through recent technology news, you might notice a trend.  Here’s a sample of the latest technological developments; see if you can guess the pattern.
• WiMAX Operators and Vendors from around the World Announce New Deployments, Growing Commitment at the 2nd Annual WiMAX Forum® - June 4, 2009 (Consumer Electronics Net). On June 2-3, 2009, WiMAX professionals from 95 countries converged in Amsterdam for the second annual WiMAX Forum® Global Congress 2009, the operator-driven event for the global market. Out of the 100 speakers present at the show, 43 represented operators, 20 represented vendors, 15 were leading industry analysts, and five were regulators.
• Malaysian, Russian cos may bid for WiMAX – June 4, 2009 (The Times of India). Russian operator Yota and Malaysian operator Packet One are in serious talks with several Indian firms to enter India’s Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) market and are also likely to emerge as bidders in the WiMAX auctions scheduled to be held later this year.
• Sequans Introduces Second Chip in New Generation 65nm Mobile WiMAX Chip Family – June 3, 2009 (EDA Cafe). Sequans Communications, the world’s leading WiMAX chipmaker, has introduced the SQN1220, the second chip in its new generation series of 65nm Mobile WiMAX system-on-chip (SOC) solutions.
• OmniMAX Product Enables Broadband Wireless Services to Fixed, Nomadic, Portable and Mobile End Users – June 3, 2009 (Wireless Design & Development). Intracom Telecom, a part of Sitronics, has launched its advanced WiMAX solution under the brand name OmniMAX.
• Alvarion and Mobitel Bring WiMAX to Rural Nigeria -June 2, 2009 (Wimax News). Alvarion Ltd. announced today that it was chosen by Mobitel, Sri Lanka’s national mobile services provider, to offer 802.16e WiMAX solutions to areas in Nigeria with little internet service. Mobitel will use Alvarion’s BreezeMAX solution in the 2.0 GHz, 2.2 GHz, and 2.3 GHz frequency bands to bring voice and high-bandwidth data services to thousands of businesses and consumers throughout the country by Q3 2009.
• Green Packet Partners Beceem to Introduce New High-Performance WiMAX Dongles – June 2, 2009 (PublicityWires). Green Packet, a leading developer of next generation mobile broadband and networking solutions and Beceem Communications, a leading developer of Mobile WiMAX chips, are forming a strategic partnership to introduce a portfolio of high-performance WiMAX USB dongles for the global WiMAX market.
• Fujitsu and Smile deliver WiMAX based VoIP phone – June 2, 2009 (EE Herald). Fujitsu Microelectronics and Smile Telecoms Holdings have announced the realization of the world’s first WiMAX Voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone and services for developing countries by creating complete eco-system covering mobile carrier, handset, and semiconductor and module partners.
• Huawei Expecting a Huge WiMax Equipment Sales Boost -June 1, 2009 (Wimax News). Huawei Technologies China’s largest telecom gear maker, said today it expected a huge sales boost over the next 19 months from Wimax equipment sales overseas and the rollout of third generation (3G) networks domestically.
• Italian WiMAX Operator Mandarin Wimax Sicilia Selects WiNetworks Solutions for Deployment of… - June 1, 2009 (Forbes). WiNetworks, a pioneer and leader in the development and integration of WiMAX 802.16e Wave 2 (MIMO) technologies, announced today a new partnership with Italian operator Mandarin Wimax Sicilia S.p.A., supplier of Broadband Wireless Access Services in the region of Sicily.

If you rifle through recent technology news, you might notice a trend.  Here’s a sample of the latest technological developments; see if you can guess the pattern:

Intel Capital invested $43 million into UQ Communications, a Japan-based WiMAX mobile services provider.  UQ hopes to use this money to provide WiMAX service to 90% of the country via “UQ WiMAX” by 2012. Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI) partnered with Aria to extend the WiMAX network to all areas of Italy.  This move was in line with the Italian Department of Communication’s focus on spreading broadband access to rural Italy. In the Philippines, Globe Telecom is planning a provincial rollout of WiMAX services. Last week, Mobitel chose Alvarion to provide WiMAX services to underserved areas in Nigeria. Saudi mobile telecom company Etihad Atheeb announced that it will launch a nationwide WiMAX network together with Motorola.

The pattern: WiMAX is spreading like wildfire…except for in the United States.  No major US telecom companies are striking big WiMAX deals or making WiMAX breakthroughs like the news stories above.  Instead, WiMAX is exploding in the most obscure corners of Europe and Asia.

This has a Cold War-esque quality to it.  Are Americans falling behind in technology?  Are our overseas neighbors more knowledgeable about a powerful device than are we?  The answer to these questions has positive aspects that lead to negative outcomes.

I’ll give you the good news first: since most of America is either already cable-wired for the Internet or has Wi-Fi, America does not need to be the foremost WiMAX provider.  WiMAX offers wide coverage, simple set up, and relatively low costs, which is why countries around the world that lack proper Internet services are eating it up.
In May 2009, Leichtman Research Group found that the top broadband companies in the US had 69.3 million subscribers by the end of Q1 2009.  According to the monthly Bandwidth Report, broadband penetration among active Internet users in US homes was 93.13% in March 2009. Thus, the need to introduce WiMAX to American users is not as pressing as it is worldwide.
So America is one step ahead, as usual.  However, America might end up taking two steps back if it does not realize the benefits of spreading Internet to underserved regions. According to the Broadband Wireless Exchange Magazine, MetroBridge Networks, Towerstream, and Valtech Communications mainly offer WiMAX to urban areas.  Other companies, such as Clearwire, NextWave Wireless, Open Range, and Conterra hold WiMAX licenses but haven’t done anything with them yet.
America may think it does not need to expend efforts on updating its Internet service because it is already ahead of most countries; yet this is where America can go wrong. A BBC report placed the US as number thirteen on a list of international broadband speeds, associating it with countries that have slow Internet service.  America is in danger of falling behind, and will suffer great consequences if it does.  Advanced technology in rural areas can help connect all parts of America and ensure that every citizen gets the greatest services technology has to offer.  As Internet becomes a necessity and the economy becomes more global, setting up Internet access throughout the nation will greatly improve the American economy and society.
Thankfully, America realizes this fact.  President Barak Obama allocated $7.2 billion for advancements in broadband technology as part of his Recovery Act.  In April 2009, the Recovery Act authorized the NTIA to implement the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program—a $4.7 billion one-time competitive matching grants program to spread broadband services to underserved areas.  Additionally, a May 2009 report by the FCC titled Bringing Broadband to Rural America indicates that the government is aware that nation-wide Internet access is a vital asset.  Hopefully America will act on these initiatives by developing WiMAX networks and spreading them to areas that need it most.

Alvarion wins WiMax deal in Catalonia, Spain (Wimax News). Alvarion announced today it was selected by Iberbanda, Spain’s leading WiMAX carrier partially owned by Telefonica, to expand the current WiMAX network at 3.5GHz in Catalonia. The expansion results from a tender won by Iberbanda to supply WiMAX services to the Government of Catalonia.

• Juniper Research : WiMAX to Generate $15billion by 2014 (Wimax News). Mobile WiMAX  networks are being rolled out more slowly than expected, meaning that service revenues will grow more slowly than forecast a year ago, a new study from Juniper Research concluded on 20th May 2009. The WiMAX broadband report found that revenues from WiMAX 802.16e broadband subscribers will exceed $15 billion globally by 2014.
• Clearwire Prepares WiMax Launch In Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas (Wimax News). The Clearwire’s mobile WiMax service is expected to expand this summer in Las Vegas and Chicago with Philadelphia and Dallas/Fort Worth to follow later in the year as the company reported 1stQ revenue of $62.1 million and a loss of $71.1 million.
• Alvarion Adds New Point-to-Point Backhaul Solution to BreezeNET (Wimax Equipment). Alvarion has unveiled a new product that complements the company’s current BreezeNET B family of point-to-point solutions, called BreezeNET B300.
• Aptilo Networks Receives INTERNET TELEPHONY’s 2009 WiMAX Distinction Award (Individual.com). Aptilo Networks, the global leader in integrated management solutions for control of billing, user services and access in WiMAX(TM) and Wi-Fi networks, today announced that Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC) INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has named the Aptilo WiMAX CSN System(TM) as a recipient of a 2009 WiMAX Distinction Award.
• Red Bend Software Reaches Milestone of Half a Billion Mobile Devices (Tec Trends). Red Bend Software, the market leader in Mobile Software Management (MSM), today announced that it has reached the significant milestone of shipping its software in more than half a billion mobile devices worldwide.
• Motorola Receives WiMAX Forum Certification for Three 2.5GHz Products (Wireless Designasia). Motorola Inc. has received the WiMAX Forum Certified seal of approval for two of its customer premises equipment devices (CPE) and one WiMAX access point.
• Cisco to Supply Clearwire’s Network (Wimax News). Clearwire said on Wednesday that Cisco Systems Inc would build devices for business and customers of Clearwire’s WiMax network. By partnering with Clearwire LLC, Cisco Systems has reawakened its mobile WiMax strategy in a big way.
• Operators Turn To Green Packet For Solutions To Increasing Arpu (WiMax.com). Green Packet Berhad, a leading developer of next generation mobile broadband and networking solutions, cemented its position as an industry front runner in the world of WiMAX and convergent technologies after an impressive debut participation at WiMAX Forum Congress Asia (WFCA) from 28th to 29th April 2009, in Singapore.
• UQ awards WiMAX contract to NEC (TeleGeography). Japanese WiMAX start-up UQ Communications has selected NEC Corp to supply it with 802.16e base stations in the country. NEC did not disclose the value of the deal, nor the number of base stations it is deploying in UQ’s network; however, the deal is a major boost for the Japanese vendor’s recently developed PasoWings BS202 mobile WiMAX base station product.

Clear WiMax Service Now in Atlanta (Wimax News). Although a full commercial launch is planned for later this summer, residents of Atlanta are now able to subscribe to Clear WiMAX service, according to Wimax.com and confirmed by a post on Craigslist on April 28, 2009. The coverage maps now available Clear.com are extensive

• Redline’s products selected by I-NetLink to power largest WiMAX Network in Manitoba (Your Industry News). Redline Communications Group Inc.  today announced that I-NetLink Wireless, a Manitoba-based wireless communications company, has chosen Redline’s RedMAX(TM) WiMAX Forum Certified(R) products for its WiMAX network roll-out across 150 communities in rural Manitoba.

• WiMax Forum Congress Asia : Samsung to Focus on Boosting WiMax Service in Asia (Wimax News). Samsung Electronics unveiled at WiMAX Forum Congress Asia 2009 in Singapore its latest Mobile WiMAX indoor solution as well as various system equipments and devices , continuing active campaign to expand Mobile WiMAX market in Asia.

• Motorola Powers Unwired Fiji’s Mobile WiMAX Network (Wireless Workforce Online). Motorola, Inc. announced today that it has been selected by Unwired Fiji to design and deploy an end-to-end 802.16e-based WiMAX network to upgrade and provide increased capacity to the operator’s existing network for expansion of network coverage and capacity.

• Legal challenge to merger resulting in the “new Clearwire” (Wimax News). Sprint affiliate which covers much of the Midwest won a court battle over the proposed Sprint-Clearwire merger that resulted in the “new Clearwire“, reported TMC Net on May 01, 2009.

• Interview with Axxcelera WiMax Sales Manager Aleksander Freylekhman (Going Wimax).My Name Aleksander Freylekhman and I am Sales Manager for North America at Axxcelera Broadband Wireless. My focus for the company is channel management and business development. Until recent I was working for Winncom Technologies Corp. an international distributor for Wireless Broadband Solutions as a Product Manager.

• Motorola receives WiMAX Forum certification for three 2.5 GHz products (Computer Technology Review). Motorola Inc. announced Monday that it has received the WiMAX Forum Certified seal of approval for two of its customer premises equipment devices (CPE) and one WiMAX access point.

• 3.65GHz Spectrum: What is it and who will Profit from it ? (Going Wimax). The difficulty with establishing broadband service in a rural market can be summed up by the common saying: “If it were easy, everyone would do it.” Rural areas are everything that urban ones are not.  No readily available infrastructure exists on which to build an access network.

• Wimax Players Fight Back Against LTE Hype (TD-SCMA Forum). HSPA is fake mobile Internet and Wimax will beat the pants off LTE in the long run, said speakers at a Wimax Forum event Tuesday.

• WiMAX Forum : 13 WiMAX Network Deployments Announced in April (Wimax News). The WiMAX Forum has started publishing a monthly report on network developments and statistics. The first issue notes that approximately 13 new WiMAX network deployments were announced in April.

• Agilent Technologies to Demonstrate WiMAX Test Solutions at 2009 Asia WIMAX Forum Congress (Agilent Technologies). Agilent Technologies Inc. will demonstrate its full range portfolio of WiMAX test solutions April 28-29 at the Suntec Convention Centre, Booth 62. Agilent’s test solutions address the WiMAX test requirements in design verification, pre-conformance, conformance, network deployment and service assurance.

• Report : WiMAX Subscribers in India to Exceed 13 Million by 2013 (Wimax News).  Maravedis and Tonse Telecom predict this week Wimax Subscribers in India will Exceed 13 Million by 2013. This report concludes that deployment of 3G and WiMAX streams will generate a reasonable user base over the next 5 year period, before noticeable LTE deployments begin to make an impact in India.

• UQ Communications to Extend Wimax Coverage to Nagoya and Osaka in 2009 (Wimax News).  Speaking at the WiMax Forum Congress Asia event held in Singapore, Takeshi Tanaka – president of UQ Communications – unveiled UQ’s upcoming wimax roll out plan.

• Spectrum auction to pave way for 3G-WiMax combo package (Yahoo! India Finance). Indian telecom service operators are expected to offer a combination of 3G and WiMax (highspeed wirelessbroadband access) once spectrum auction for the two takes place post-elections when the new government assumes office.

• WiMAX – The Educational Broadband Services Solution (TMCnet.com) Obama administration will spend billions of dollars installing new or upgrading existing wireless broadband services for public use.

• Dell Starts Offering WiMax on two laptops in the U.S (Wimax News).  Dell is offering WiMax as an option on three laptop models sold in the U.S.,  confirmed Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger at Dell, on April 05, 2009. US customers who order a Studio 17 or Studio XPS 16 will see a WiMAX/ Wireless-N combo card option from Intel for a $60 upgrade price from the 802.11g default wireless option, he said.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and your company?

Addiel Lopez founder of Sling Broadband, North America’s Largest Privately Held Wimax Internet Service Provider. A Results-oriented CEO and investor of several successful start-up telecommunications companies, 8yr career in professional telecommunications sales & marketing.
Sling Broadband offers South Florida’s most reliable wireless broadband network, committed in building and delivering a new alternative to traditional high speed internet. With speeds up to 1.25gbps Wimax is the newest replacement to traditional telephone company broadband. Sling Broadband’s Backbone network is reliable, redundant and robust, featuring 10G inter connectivity with leading global Tier-1 backbone providers, including; AT&T, Level (3), Global Crossing, and Cogent, as well as over 250 direct peering relationships.

How does Sling plan on attacking the Wimax market?

By expanding our wireless our network to 23 Major markets in 2-5 years, and identifying new application layers on our network; thus stimulating innovative new products.

What is Sling’s competitive edge over its potential competitors ?

Our size and natural network resources! ; These advantages only magnify our ability to switch focus and move in nimble fashion.

How long will it be before wimax will becomes a household name?

Intel’s adoption of the wimax chipset into their new centrino platform will pave the road for residential wimax mass market acceptance.

What challenges do you see for sling in the short term? Long term?

“Spectrum” it takes an incredible amount of capital to purchase these rights and then the added cost of deployment. Our long term challenges seem to revolve around capacity and subscriber density.

Can you tell us more about the wireless network you are deploying in the city of Hollywood, Florida?

Sling Broadband has partnered with Johnson Controls and local city government in deploying the first hybrid public safety / public access wi-fi network; of its kind in our South Florida market

What are your thoughts on the Stimulus package and its impact on the wireless industry?

Rapid growth of overnight WISP’s in many U.S markets. And a sudden boom in rural broadband coverage
What will the digital landscape look like in the US in the next 3 years ?

The digital transition and stimulus package will allow our broadband ecosystem the ability to catch up to the global wireless standards.

Will wimax and LTE become a battle to the finish line? Or do you see them co-existing?

Co-Existing 100%…. “Interoperability” is key! Proprietary CPE devises are a thing of the past we need to open it up!