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WiMAX World Europe, May 22-24, 2006, at the Austria Center Vienna, is the largest WiMAX event in Europe. With over 40 exhibitors and 100 sponsors, it features all the major players in the WiMAX market.
 WiMAX World Europe features 4 program tracks, 80+ speakers and over 20 service providers, including; Mobile Broadband Executive Summit, WiMAX World Backhaul Performance Testbed, The Business Case for WiMAX, WiMAX Technology Track, WiMAX Deployment Case Studies, European Hotzones & Digital Cities Track, 40+ exhibitors, WiMAX Technology Solutions Theater and Special networking events.
A mobile WiMax draft was approved by the IEEE last December as 802.16e-2005. Vendors are announcing products and contracts now with the expectation that they will be interoperable and compliant with the final approved standard which could be ready in 6-9 months.
Because it is mobile, Mobile WiMAX, requires interoperability. Unlike fixed gear, different mobile clients will be constantly on the move between different basestations. Handoff and power consumption are also major challenges, say industry observers.
Major announcements include:
- The largest WiMAX network in the world is planned by Motorola and Pakistan’s Wateen Telecom. One million subscribers are expected initially, with a nationwide rollout to follow. The initial deployment is schedule to be completed by the second half of 2006, the company said.
The 802.16e-based MOTOwi4 WiMAX access network and subscriber units will enable Wateen Telecom to offer broadband data services covering residential and corporate voice, VPN and public hotspots. Motorola, who will plan, design and deploy the nationwide WiMAX network. Integration with Motorola’s IMS solution will enable Wateen Telecom to offer consumers voice services using VoIP (Voice- over-IP) with features like caller ID, voice mail and call forwarding. Motorola says they have demonstrated interoperability of their Mobile WiMAX basestation (based on 802.16e) and Beceem's Mobile WiMAX PC cards.
 Nortel and The National Taiwan University are collaborating in a WiMAX trial that includes interoperability testing using a variety of wireless devices and multimedia applications.
The NTU WiMAX lab trial site supports field-testing and demonstration of VoIP, video streaming, video surveillance and a WiMAX/WLAN handover to 3G networks. Nortel WiMAX solutions utilize their MIMO technology embedded in the 802.16e standard (pdf).
Nortel is supplying WiMAX fixed broadband to cover roughly 8,000 square miles to a rural municipal area in southeastern Alberta covering approximately 5 million acres. They're teaming up with Netago Wireless, an ISP utilizing the Alberta SuperNet, to deliver broadband to rural Albertans. The provincial government initiative is designed to bring affordable broadband services to approximately 4,200 government, health, library and educational facilities in 429 communities across Alberta. Nortel has a number of WiMax trials in Europe, South America, Mexico and Asia.
In addition, Nortel has signed an agreement with Chunghwa Telecom to deploy a WiMAX solution in the operator's experimental park to create an environment for testing WiMAX and wireless mesh integration.
 Alcatel has been selected by ACCA Networks, one of Japan's largest broadband providers, with over a million subscribers, to launch a Mobile WiMAX trial in the Tokyo area.
The trial, to be deployed in June 2006, will be Alcatel's first WiMAX reference in Japan based on the 802.16e-2005, the IEEE's Mobile WiMAX standard.
The Alcatel Evolium WiMAX end-to-end solution provided for the trial will operate in the 2.5 GHz frequency band and includes base station equipment, indoor CPE (Customer Premises Equipment), mobile terminals and integration services. Alcatel will provide hardware and WiMAX engineering expertise. Evolium, built around Navini gear, will support fixed, nomadic, and mobile usage and is targeted at developing economies, where Alcatel is strong.
Alcatel resells Alvarion equipment for fixed WiMAX and Navini for Mobile WiMAX. Alcatel has also signed partnerships with Samsung, the main creator of the pre-802.16e technology Wi-Bro, and Korea Telecom.
Alcatel is expected to focus heavily on Wi-Bro interoperability, and integration with its cellular systems. Beecem's Mobile WiMAX PC Card has also demonstrated compatibility with the Navini's Mobile WiMAX base stations, which are now shipping.
Toyko appears to be ground zero for Mobile WiMAX. At least two other Toyko Mobile WiMAX trials have been announced:
- Intel Capital announced investments in Egypt and Netherlands for large WiMAX networks covering vast areas. In India, Intel will train 800,000 teachers for free over the next five years, announced Paul Otellini Tuesday in Bangalore, India.
Intel announced in May that it will invest US$1 billion over the next five years on new products, broadband connectivity and education for developing countries. Intel will invest in making PCs more affordable, in improving connectivity through WiMax, and in education, he added. The Affordable PC will cost 20 percent less than a comparable PC using a Celeron processor, the company said. Intel is also negotiating with India about setting up an assembly and test facility there.
 Redline and Wavesat are demonstrating a portable WiMAX network using interoperable WiMAX products. The portable wireless connection showcases Redline’s WiMAX Certified IEEE 802.16-2004 Mini-PCI module. Redline’s RedPATH architecture includes RedMAX Base Station (AN-100U) which supports voice, video, and prioritized data. Redline’s WiMAX products also includes the RedMAX Indoor Subscriber Unit (SU-I) and Outdoor Subscriber Unit (SU-O) designed for enterprise and residential services.
Wavesat's Shark chipset will offer enhanced nomadic indoor capability with robust subchannelization and adaptive antenna technology. Basic mobility is added through the support of hard handover and power saving mode for prolonged battery life. The Shark also provides enhanced Quality of Service (QoS) capability, Automatic Repeat-reQuest (ARQ) and functionality to optimize bandwidth usage such as payload header suppression.
"WiMAX is going to give you a box for 200 bucks that does voice and data," says David Sumi, marketing vice president at TeleCIS. "As a service provider, I can get $20 out of you for data and another $20 out of you for voice. And if I have a cost of $200 for the box to hook you up, and many of my customers will be self-installed, now I have a business case." TeleCIS plans "dual-mode", WiFi/WiMax chipsets.
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