Jakarta, Indonesia – December 10, 2009 – The WiMAX Forum today established a new regional chapter in Indonesia to promote the benefits of the global WiMAX ecosystem to Indonesian government officials, regulators, operators and customers. An essential technology to accelerate broadband growth throughout Indonesia, WiMAX provides a scalable and economical way to provide high-speed broadband Internet with the recently auctioned 2.3GHz spectrum and existing 3.3 GHz allocations.
The WiMAX Forum Indonesia (WFID) chapter's membership comprises industry officers from Global WiMAX Forum members, Indonesia WiMAX Operators and manufacturers, MASTEL and Indonesia Wireless Broadband (ID-WiBB). The signing of the MOU between WiMAX Forum and MASTEL in September of 2009 was the starting point for WiMAX Forum activities in Indonesia.
"The WiMAX Forum congratulates the Indonesian government on the efficiency and speed at which the WiMAX opportunity has been brought to a reality," said Dr. Mohammad Shakouri, WiMAX Forum vice president and board member. "As part of our goal of expediting deployment of WiMAX networks around the globe, the WiMAX Forum established the Indonesia chapter in response to the increasing commitment by Indonesian technology leaders and the collective ecosystem's clear and unwavering commitment to advancing WiMAX adoption in this region."
The WiMAX Forum also announced the appointment of Sylvia Sumarlin as Regional Director of the WFID to lead the chapter's efforts.
"The WiMAX Forum recognizes the national policy objectives upon which Indonesia has based its WiMAX initiative," said Sumarlin. "We applaud Indonesia for the early release of its WiMAXspectrum and encourage the Indonesian government to expand spectrum availability even more. The right spectrum policy would help achieve affordable broadband, attract investment, and pave way for successful commercial deployment. Such policy includes minimum spectrum size of 30MHz per operator, nation-wide licenses and technology neutrality which could be alleviated by the early release of the remaining 60MHz of spectrum in the 2.3GHz band."
Sylvia Sumarlin background
Sumarlin's passion for IT began when she had the opportunity to become an intern for Hewlett Packard Company in Palo Alto, California. In 1995, along with Rudy Hari, Sylvia co-founded PT Dyviacom Intrabumi (brand name "D~NET"), an internet service provider and IT integration company, and led it to become the first IT company to trade its shares at the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the year 2000. In 1999, Sumarlin and Hari set up an IT research and development company, PT Dama Persada and Sumarlin continues to serve as CEO today. Sumarlin received her Bachelor Degree in Economics in 1986 from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, and later obtained a dual Master Degrees in Economics and International Relations in 1989.
Forum Participation at Indonesia Broadband Conference
Dr. Shakouri and WiMAX Forum Regulatory Director, Tim Hewitt, will participate in presentations and a joint news conference at the Indonesia Broadband Conference on December 10, 2009. Hewitt and Shakouri will discuss how WiMAX is developing worldwide and how WiMAX will bring social and economic benefits to Indonesia. The news conference will take place at 12.00 in the Ceria Room Function.
For more information on the 518 global WiMAX deployments in 146 countries, please visit www.WiMAXMaps.org.
About WiMAX Forum®
The WiMAX Forum® is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization formed to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based upon the IEEE 802.16e standard. A WiMAX Forum goal is to accelerate the introduction of these systems into the marketplace. WiMAX Forum Certified products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile services. Along these lines, the WiMAX Forum works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. Through the WiMAX Forum Congress Events Series of global trade shows and events, the WiMAX Forum is committed to furthering education, training and collaboration to expand the reach of the WiMAX ecosystem. For more information, visit www.wimaxforum.org.
"WiMAX Forum," the WiMAX Forum logo and the WiMAX Forum Certified logo are registered trademarks of the WiMAX Forum. "WiMAX," "Mobile WiMAX," "Fixed WiMAX," "WiMAX Certified," and "WiMAX Forum Certified" are trademarks of the WiMAX Forum. Third-party trademarks contained in this document are the property of their respective owners. ###
