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Colombia's Emcali cozies up with ZTE on WiMAX
A deal with long-time partner ZTE will bring 802.16e-2005 WiMAX network to Cali and Popayán regions.
ZTE announced it will provide Colombia's first WiMAX network using 802.16e-2005
technology to Empresas Municipales de Cali (Emcali), a provider of public
services, including telecommunications, electric power, public lighting and
waterworks. The Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor will provide Emcali
with core network equipment, radio area network infrastructure and select
terminals to offer fixed wireless services. Emcali was awarded a WiMAX license
in 2006 and has mandates to deploy commercial services before the close of 2008.
The network is planned to serve Cali, the country's second largest city, and the
colonial Popayán municipality to its south. The operator's WiMAX license is for
the 3.5 GHz frequency band, commonly used for fixed wireless access. Emcali
seeks to expand its current telecom offering of fixed line telephone, IPTV and
network transmission services to include broadband Internet.
The network plans using WiMAX fall in-line with expectations from market
analysts who see a significant part of WiMAX adoption occurring in emerging
markets where prior telecommunications infrastructure and broadband competition
have not met market demand. Pyramid Research recently forecasted WiMAX
subscriber growth from 2.1 million in 2007 to 41 million in 2012, with emerging
markets accounting for 57% of global subscribers in that timeframe.
Colombia's EPM Telecomunicaciones (formerly Orbitel) launched fixed WiMAX
services in Cali during May 2006 using the 802.16-2004 WiMAX standard typically
associated with fixed wireless deployments. The operator is ranked as the
3rd largest deployment of 802.16-2004 systems in the world and currently
offers service in 22 Colombian cities serving more than 1.1 million inhabitants.
By Jeff Orr, ORR Technology, LLC
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