Part 2, WiMax Market Update from the Field

March 04, 2006

Part 2, update by Alan J. Weissberger.

WiMax Forum Status Update, by Mo Shakouri of Alvarion (WiMax Forum Board Member and Vice President Marketing Working Group).

WiMAX Forum Charter:

- Promote and accelerate WiMAX deployments to achieve leadership in the global wireless broadband market.
- Develop a framework for a high performance end-to-end IP network architecture supporting stationary, portable, and mobile users (a flat IP network that serves many different types of customers is envisioned).
- Deliver a trusted certification process (recently completed first product certifications).
- Evangelize business model, including favorable IPR policy.
- Foster a thriving ecosystem, including application and content players as well as telecom companies.

WiMAX Forum Participation: Some 500-600 delegates attended last week’s WiMax Forum meeting in Paris. The largest group attending now is operators, with over 120 operator company members. The leading companies in communications, computing, Internet, and content are participating in the WiMax Forum.

WiMax Forum’s 2005 Accomplishments:

- More than 150 WiMAX trials and early commercial deployments
- Membership doubled to 350+ companies
- Successfully bridged Korean WiBro service to become part of mobile WiMAX standard
- IEEE 802.16e standard ratified due to Forum company collaboration
- Mobile WiMAX network specification phase one completed
- Opened first independent WiMax Forum certification lab in Spain
- Executed two successful Plug Fests
- Completed three global member conferences

WiMAX Forum Message for 2006:

- WiMAX Delivers on its Promise
– Certified 802.16-2004/HiperMAN products (at 3.5 GHz) will be available in Q1’2006
- WiMAX is gaining market acceptance. Fixed WiMax will succeed, if only because there are many parts of the world which do not have a broadband infrastructure and WiMax will level the playing field for those countries.
– Over 150 operators are trialing and deploying WiMAX
– 802.16e lab on track to open in Q3’2006

A new white paper is now available which provides a vision for Mobile WiMax.
All white papers are available for download at Wimax Forum.org.

That concludes Part 2 of this WiMax Market Update. Due to the length of this report, we will be bringing this to you in three parts over the weekend, ending on Sunday.

Part 3 will cover some of Heavy Reading’s WiMax findings.