PORTLAND, OR - June 30, 2010 — The WiMAX Forum applauds the Indian government for its recent auction of BWA spectrum, a strong step towards providing broadband access and all its benefits to India’s 1.2 billion citizens.
“WiMAX is ready for Indian operators to deploy now,” said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. “Only 9 million citizens throughout India have access to broadband, but within six months WiMAX networks and services could be deployed and commercially available – helping the Indian government to pursue an accelerated path to achieve and exceed their goal of connecting more than 100 million broadband users by 2014.”
WiMAX operators with 2.3 GHz spectrum holdings are among the fastest growing sector in the WiMAX ecosystem. Globally, the WiMAX Forum has tracked more than 50 commercial deployments in this spectrum band and 593 total WiMAX deployments in 149 countries as of June 30, 2010. Additionally, 2.5 GHz remains a critically important band among WiMAX operators. The large and ever-increasing deployments in 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz will serve Indian operators and consumers well as they tap into the volume pricing benefits and rich ecosystem of devices.
Earlier this month, the WiMAX Forum announced that the first 2.3 GHz products gained WiMAX Forum Certified™ status. The availability of certified products today in both the predominant India frequency allocations of 2.3 and 2.5 GHz ensures a faster to time-to-market and enables advantages such as global roaming capabilities. 2.3 and 2.5 GHz base stations and end-user products are all commercially available today and are already deployed in markets across the globe.
“We’ve enjoyed considerable success with 2.3 GHz WiMAX,” said Michael Lai, Chief Executive Officer of Packet One Networks, a subsidiary of Green Packet and a member of the WiMAX Forum Board of Directors. “In fact we’re the leading WIMAX operator in Malaysia. With over 170,000 subscribers in the span of less than 2 years and the country’s fastest growing wireless network, P1 is a showcase of how WiMAX is the perfect broadband enabler for India and the region. P1 WiMAX has now covered over 40% of the West Malaysia population. We are the second largest 2.3 GHz network in the world and are on track to deliver our promise of ‘Broadband for All’ to Malaysians. WiMAX also is supported by a mature ecosystem. It is quite simple, this 4G WiMAX technology today is ready to meet the needs of a nation that is thirsty for broadband, a nation like India.”
The WiMAX ecosystem is supported by the world’s leading technology and telecommunications companies spanning the entire Internet value chain from silicon to content. The WiMAX Forum urges Indian operators to take advantage of this mature, tested technology and powerful ecosystem to bring the benefits of broadband to India through WiMAX as soon as possible.
“According to an independent research report by Protiviti, every six months of broadband deployment delays will cost the Indian economy USD $1 billion in lost revenue,” said Resnick. “Additionally, it will delay the creation of more than two million jobs nationally per 12 million added broadband subscribers based on the increased opportunities that a broadband rich economy creates.”
For more information about WiMAX technology, visit www.wimaxforum.org.
About the 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 harmonized IEEE 802.16e/ETSI HiperMAN 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 the trade show link at 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.
Source;Protivity Report-WiMAX :The Quintessential answer to Broadband in India(2009)
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