Document Actions
WiMAX Forum Global Congress 09: Day 2
The second day of the WiMAX Forum Global Congress was highlighted with perspectives and case studies from leading operators and solution providers in both emerging and developed markets. Momentum for WiMAX continues to build with recent launches and new deployments planned in the coming months.
Russian service provider Comstar took the stage on Wednesday with an overview of
the Russian broadband market and details around its fixed and nomadic broadband
offerings. The provider recently launched its WiMAX service in May.
Alexander Gorbunov, Vice President for Strategy & Development, Comstar, stressed
that a $10-$20 (USD) per month subscription was necessary to drive mass-market
broadband adoption in the country. The Russian operator offers tiered
pricing based on different service levels and has been methodical with its
targeted deployments - focusing on area where the business model provides the
best return.
The company has also developed some innovative applications, including a
connection manager that allows users to seamlessly connect between different
access technologies including WiMAX and Wi-Fi. In addition, the provider
has an exclusive relationship with FON that allows its subscribers to leverage
reportedly the world's largest Wi-Fi community in the world. "No one
technology can serve the needs of all and these types of solutions provide
flexible alternatives," said Gorbunov.
Alexander Gorbunov, Comstar
Hung Song, Vice President Global Marketing Group, Samsung delivered a keynote
illustrating the potential for WiMAX to do for the internet what voice did for
cellular networks. "In the next five years, there will be more mobile
broadband than fixed", commented Song. The Samsung executive also outlined
the many vertical opportunities for WiMAX including government, healthcare and
education and the impact it can have on improving people's lives and standards
of living. As a leading WiMAX provider, Samsung has provided Mobile WiMAX
solutions to 24 major mobile WiMAX operators in 20 countries for commercial or
trial service including Clearwire in U.S, UQ Communication in Japan, Yota in
Russia and YTL e-solution in Malaysia.
Hung Song, Samsung Electronics
WiMAX equipment provider Alvarion announced 3 new WiMAX deployments this week
with Mobitel in Nigeria, Telikom PNG in Papua New Guinea and public utility
operator Hafslund in Norway. What was interesting was the diversity in the
types of deployments with regards to geography, customer base and business
models. During his keynote, Tzvika Friedman, CEO for Alvarion commented on
the flexibility of WiMAX and the numerous applications that can be delivered
over an open IP based network. "Open WiMAX allows for more innovation and
enables operators to move quickly in providing new applications and services,"
said Friedman. The company also reportedly leads in WiMAX deployments with
over 250 commercial deployments across a wide range of business models.
Tzvika Friedman, Alvarion
The afternoon sessions continued with additional tracks on securing capital for
broadband investments and updates on device/equipments certification and
interoperability testing. We will have a complete wrap-up of the event
early next week.
Footnote: In attempting to post this update earlier in the week,
I experienced first-hand the frustrations of not having easy access to
broadband. For many business travelers, internet access while on the road
is often an "emerging broadband market." In my own experience, the Amsterdam
hotel where I was staying charged $25 euros for 24 hours for service that was
often either not available or difficult to connect to - requiring multiple calls
to the front desk, numerous access codes, etc. With Worldmax now providing
WiMAX in Amsterdam and WiMAX roaming on the horizon, perhaps one day these
problems will be a thing of the past.
_____
tags:
