WiMAX Forum Newsletter

President's Message

Dear Members:

Most of you have seen the announcement regarding Sprint/Clearwire and the move to create a new company to be called Clearwire that will be focused on expediting the deployment of the nationwide mobile WiMAX network. Intel, Google, Time Warner and Brighthouse Networks are backing this new venture which will help shape the next generation of wireless services. This truly is a historic step forward for WiMAX as it represents the first nationwide deployment of a next generation mobile broadband network in the U.S. For more information regarding the new Clearwire, visit this press release.

The WiMAX Forum is pleased to announce that all equipment vendors may now register to have their product certified for profile MP05 (3A - 2.5GHz. All six WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Labs (WFDCLs) are now open to accept registrations for Certification Testing. For registering your product submissions with the WFDCL of your choice, please use the WiMAX Cert Tool on the WiMAX Forum Website.

At our WiMAX Forum’s inaugural Congress trade show in Singapore, we announced the first eight Mobile WiMAX products that received certification for Profile 1A at 2.3 GHz. These products included four base stations and four subscriber unit modules from member companies POSDATA, Runcom Technologies Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co., LTD and Sequans Communications. This certification milestone demonstrates our industry is following through on its commitment to deliver Mobile WiMAX infrastructure. Stay tuned for momentum to continue throughout the year as first products for the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz frequency achieve certification.

The WiMAX Forum Congress Asia event held in Singapore on dates exceeded expectations with over 2700 visitors to the exhibitor floor, 50 plus exhibiting companies, and 500 delegates attending our interactive conference program! Feedback on this event has been positive and by the close of the show over 92% of the 2008 floor space had been booked for the 2009 Congress Asia event to be held next April again in Singapore. You can read more about what the exhibitors and guests had to say about our first Congress Event here.

I am pleased to announce the appointment of CS Rao as the Honorary Chairman for the WiMAX Forum Indian Office. In this role, CS Rao will be responsible for managing the WiMAX Forum activities in India and the WiMAX Forum’s relationship with local Indian Telecom Operators, policy makers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Government of India to promote the WiMAX technology and ensure the bulk adoption of Mobile Broadband in India through the global technology of WiMAX.

Mr. CS Rao has 30 years of experience in the field of telecom and datacom technology and was on the board of a few Telecom and Datacom companies prior to joining WiMAX Forum. He was Managing Director of BT in India and was responsible for BT’s ILD/NLD services license award and launch of ILD services. CS Rao was also responsible as Lucent India's president and CEO, to grow the Wireless networks for Reliance, Tata and BSNL. Prior to Lucent, Rao was with Tellabs India where he was the Regional Director for SAARC countries and was responsible to lead a pioneering role of introducing Optical, Digital Transport and MLLN technologies in BSNL. At Tellabs, he worked for 10 years and was solely responsible for operations in India as well as South Asian countries.

Additionally we are pleased to announce the appointment of the Connectivity Director of Intel Brazil, Elaine Nucci, as the Deputy Director of our WiMAX Forum Regional office in Brazil. One of the main goals of the WiMAX Forum Brazil Office for 2008 is to speed-up the adoption and supply of services using this technology, to leverage awareness of its potential for commercial applications and digital inclusion, in addition to facilitating the set up of a WiMAX certification laboratory in Brazil.

Nucci will work closely with the WiMAX Forum Director, Luiz C. Moraes Rego, in order to attain the goals scheduled by this office for 2008. Brazil is rated as one of the hottest markets among the emerging economies, with WiMAX technology currently being tested by several broadband connection and digital service providers.

On a Regulatory note, within Europe, as in many other parts of the World, Governments and Regulators are addressing how much spectrum could be freed-up by the transition to digital television (the so-called Digital Dividend), and how such spectrum might be used. The frequency range in Europe normally associated with TV is the UHF band from 470-862MHz, but this varies to some extent around the world.

The issue of the Digital Dividend is currently exercising the minds of politicians within the European Parliament, one of the 3 principal bodies of the European Union (the others being the European Commission and the Council of the European Union). The Parliament will eventually make policy that brings the greatest benefits to both consumers and citizens, but at this time the matter is under discussion within some of the Parliamentary Committees, including the important Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE Committee).

On April 27th the ITRE Committee held a debate on the Dividend, and the final 90 minutes of that debate were devoted to a Mini-Hearing to which key stakeholder organisations were invited to provide their views on several questions relating to how large the Dividend could be and what services it should be used for.

The WiMAX Forum has a potentially significant interest in the Dividend spectrum for the extension of the WiMAX Footprint, both geographically and to those currently under-served by broadband access. The WiMAX Forum was therefore very pleased when an invitation to appear before the hearing was extended by the ITRE Committee to Tim Hewitt, the WiMAX Forum’s Director of Regulatory and Spectrum Policy and Chair of the Regulatory Working Group. The WiMAX Forum was one of 4 organisations invited, the others being the GSM Association Europe (GSMA-E), The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Advisory Unit of the Italian Ministry of Communications. Each of the 4 panelists gave 10 minute presentations, followed by questions from the assembled Members of the European Parliament who was active in the ITRE Committee.

The WiMAX Forum statement followed our established policy of technology, service and usage neutrality for spectrum, and also our strong view of sufficient spectrum per operator to allow the delivery of true mobile internet and other broadband services. The GSMA-E expressed broadly similar views, but the broadcasting industry voiced its own vision as to how the Dividend could be used.

The questioning brought out a range of issues that the WiMAX Forum will need to reflect upon. While sensible technology neutrality was not so much an issue, the concept of service neutrality was of wider concern, at least in the context of this hearing. A key theme of some of the questioning was that of the social and cultural benefits of the Dividend, and of each of the prospective uses (High Definition TV, Mobile TV and Broadband Wireless Access were all seen as contenders for some or the entire Dividend). It is recommended that the WiMAX Forum completes and publicises its position on social and cultural issues so as to be in a good position to respond to these higher level political concerns.

Finally, I wanted to thank all the member companies that attended our conference in Athens. We had over 500 members attend, and nine companies participated in the two day member show case featuring their products and services. Participating companies included Agilent Technologies, Aeroflex, Anite, Anritsu, AT4 Wireless, Azimuth Systems, Informa Telecoms & Media, Rohde & Schwarz and Sanjole. The WiMAX Forum extends our thanks to our sponsors and exhibitors who contribute to the success of our member conferences.

The past few weeks have been very exciting. We announced the first certified Mobile WiMAX products, our first Congress tradeshow was a great success in Singapore, the WiMAX Forum participated in the CTIA Wireless 2008 show, activity continues in the regulatory arena, new directors for the Brazil and India WiMAX Forum regional offices were recently appointed, and we have expanded our regional efforts into Canada.

We look forward to seeing you all in Amsterdam!

Ron Resnick
President, WiMAX Forum®