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Saudi Telecom expands WiMAX coverage
Deployment phase one for WiMAX is complete and the second commences for the Saudi telecommunications provider.
Airspan Networks Inc. announced that the Saudi Arabian carrier, Saudi Telecom, has successfully deployed WiMAX services using Airspan's HiperMAX base stations, which provide both fixed and mobile WiMAX solutions. The second phase of the project is now commencing with Airspan supplying its indoor and outdoor fixed subscriber terminals. Saudi Telecom has a 3.5 GHz license covering the entire kingdom. Broadband wireless services will be made available to both urban and rural areas.
Airspan's HiperMAX Base Station and indoor EasyST WiMAX modem support both fixed WiMAX (802.16-2004) and mobile WiMAX (802.16e-2005) system profiles. An operator can choose the underlying technology best-suited for its market and applications. "We believe that WiMAX technology is one of the important tools in broadband wireless access technology which will enable Saudi Telecom to provide highly reliable broadband voice and data access quickly on demand, everywhere and anywhere, within Saudi Arabia," said Samir Matbouli, Saudi Telecom's Vice President for the Enterprise Business unit.
Redline Communications announced in March 2007 that its fixed WiMAX equipment was selected by Saudi Telecom for deployment in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Saudi Telecom subsequently chose Huawei's 802.16e-2005 infrastructure in August 2007 for deployment of mobile WiMAX services. The adoption of Internet access in Saudi Arabia grew from 17% to 22% between December 2007 and March 2008, according to reports from the ITU. However, a September ITU report counted only 218,000 broadband subscribers, about 0.77% of the kingdom's population.
In April 2008, Motorola announced a $165 million WiMAX 802.16e-2005 kingdom-wide infrastructure contract with Saudi telecommunications company Atheeb.
By Jeff Orr
ORR Technology, LLC
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