Last week, Clearwire Corp. and Taiwan’s Vee Telecom Multimedia Co.
signed a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly provide WiMAX services in
Taiwan. Vee Telecom, based in Taichung, central Taiwan, plans to launch
WiMAX services in southern Taiwan at the end of this year.
Clearwire will take a stake of less than 10% in Vee Telecom in exchange for
providing technology and consultation services on WiMAX-related infrastructure,
Vee Telecom Spokesman Sean Wu told Dow Jones Newswires.
Clearwire also signed an agreement with Global Mobile Corp., another Taiwanese
WiMAX operator, to cooperate on roaming, technology and digital content, Global
Mobile said in a statement.
Opinion: Clearwire’s new role in helping Taiwanese WiMAX
operators with early deployment is quite significant, in our opinion. This
could be a new revenue stream and source of funding for the financially pressed
company, which has ambitious WiMAX roll-out plans for the U.S. in 2009 and
2010. Expect more WiMAX co-operation announcements from Clearwire in the
near future.
On April 26, 2009, Canadian based Bridgewater Systems announced that Tatung
Infocomm, a provider of mobile WiMAX services in Taiwan, is
deploying the Bridgewater(R) Service Controller and Policy Controller, both
anchored by Bridgewater’s Subscriber Data Broker(TM), to deliver high speed
mobile Internet services to consumers and enterprises. Tatung Infocomm is
deploying Bridgewater’s WiMAX software solutions in the southern region of
Taiwan to deliver Voice over IP, broadband Internet access, enterprise
applications, mobile VPN banking and special access services for government,
police and security organizations. The company plans to launch live WiMAX
services in major cities such as Kaohsiung city beginning in the third quarter
of 2009, with complete coverage across the southern region by 2011.
On April 21. 2009, Taiwan’s Tatung University became
the first university campus to be covered entirely by Mobile WiMAX (IEEE
802.16e). The wireless broadband network is accessible by more than 4,000
students and professors. This network, like the one Clearwire is building
in Silicon Valley, is intended to serve as a platform for research and
development while providing a breeding ground for new applications.
Alcatel-Lucent provided the wireless infrastructure, while several other
companies (Accton Wireless Broadband, ASUSTeK, China Television, dmedia, D-Link,
Gemtek, Intel Taiwan, Polycom Asia Pacific PTE, MOXA Technologies, Quanta
Microsystems, and ZyXEL Communications) announced their participation in the
project.
Comment: We have long believed that campus network
connectivity would be a huge opportunity for WiMAX. The technology could
be used to backhaul Wi-Fi traffic from dorms and classrooms, as well as
providing native mode connectivity where Wi-Fi was not available. This
concept was documented in a WiMax.com article featuring a WiMAX service provider
where we said - "The
Park Merced MDU complex in San Francisco is such an endeavor."
Finally, we have heard from Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute
(ITRI) that Mobile WiMAX will be deployed later this year on a high speed train
connecting several major cities in Taiwan. That will really put mobile
WiMAX to the test and give it a clear lead over mobile LTE.
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