[Motorola lists its 2006 wi4 WiMAX solutions milestones and its WiMAX projections for 2007.]

Arlington, IL -- Motorola, Inc. issued a year-end update on its wi4 WiMAX solutions. During 2006, Motorola achieved several milestones. The company:

* Announced agreements with Sprint Nextel and Clearwire in the United States, Wateen Telecom in Pakistan and Agni Systems, Ltd in Bangladesh for WiMAX systems. Clearwire and Sprint Nextel are the two largest holders of 2.5GHz spectrum in the United States.

* Increased to more than 20 the number of 802.16e mobile WiMAX trials underway around the world.

* Began work on the build out of the new 3.5GHz nationwide wireless broadband voice and data network for Wateen Telecom, part of Warid Telecom International. Phase 1 rollout, covering major cities in Pakistan, is near completion and recently end-to-end voice and data services were successfully tested on the Wateen Telecom WiMAX/IMS network.

* Announced its WiMAX chipset design effort, launched its first and second generation WiMAX access points, unveiled its CPE portfolio, and demonstrated interoperability with PC cards using third-party chipsets as well as mobile WiMAX handoffs using its WAP400 series access points.

* Earned the "Best of WiMAX World" award for Industry Innovation from xchange magazine for Motorola's unique WiMAX Distributed Network Architecture.

With 2006 coming to a close, Motorola predicts 2007 will be the year WiMAX will begin entering the mainstream with growing consumer awareness and anticipation, and with an increasing number of commercial launches of mobile WiMAX networks.

"When we look back one year ago and reflect on all that the industry has accomplished, it is truly astounding the pace at which next generation broadband solutions are evolving. WiMAX no longer is just a promise, a potential. Now it's here, it's real, and Motorola is at the forefront of delivering this technology," said Dan Coombes, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Motorola Networks & Enterprise.

With industry wide support, performance, and cost advantages WiMAX is clearly well positioned to play a pivotal role in the evolution of future broadband wireless networks on a global scale. In the span of the last year, IEEE ratified the standard behind Mobile WiMAX 802.16e-2005, and fixed WiMAX Forum certified products have been deployed. Chipset manufacturers have announced or launched silicon that will support mobile WiMAX functionality in devices and customer premises equipment.

"Technology and market acceptance of WiMAX is underway in key pockets of the globe," said Godfrey Chua, analyst at IDC citing his recently released report "Worldwide WiMAX Infrastructure 2006-2011 Forecast. Growth is being driven by the increased utility of broadband access in general, and with major equipment vendors such as Motorola leading the way and helping to encourage the expansion of the market ecosystem, we expect WiMAX infrastructure spending to be one of the fastest growing within the wireless segment. Spending will be propelled to $3.59 billion by 2011, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 31 percent."

"From the time we announced our intention to go directly to 802.16e and our efforts with Sprint on planned WiMAX activities in June 2005, we -- and the industry -- have made tremendous progress in bringing WiMAX to market and demonstrating how WiMAX can be used to enable rich applications and personal wireless broadband," Coombes continued. "We'll continue our momentum in 2007 with general availability of our portfolio of WiMAX access points, PC cards and customer premises equipment; live, commercial networks with customers; and previews of handheld devices."

Motorola's carrier-class WiMAX access points, which feature a combination of MIMO antenna techniques and software defined radios (SDR), combined with the distributed network IP architecture of its WiMAX networks; provide flexibility in network deployments and enables operators to choose among many third-party vendors to add applications and services.

Motorola's wi4 WiMAX solutions are designed to support fixed, portable, nomadic and mobile applications. The WiMAX access points, customer premises equipment and mobile WiMAX chipsets under development for use in Motorola's devices are part of the MOTOwi4 portfolio of solutions that complement and complete wireless broadband networks.

More...

Back to Headlines...