The Nitty-Gritty of VoIP over WiMAX By Basharat H. Ashai, Market Analyst, APAC & Middle East

VoIP over WiMAX is different than traditional VoIP over DSL or cable. In a VoIP over WiMAX offering, there are two sets of network contingencies: one being the number of base stations and the other, how far away a subscriber is from the base station. At a basic service level, VoIP over WiMAX requires that the service providers pay attention to QoS and mobility issues. more…

Maravedis: What is 3G Americas and what is its purpose?

3G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to promote and facilitate the seamless deployment throughout the Americas of the GSM family of technologies, including LTE. 3G Americas focuses on three core areas: 1. Technical Recommendations; 2. Technology Education and Awareness; and 3. Regulatory and Advocacy Opportunities.  The organization aims to develop the expansive wireless ecosystem of networks, devices and applications enabled by GSM and its evolution to LTE. 3G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.  More information is available at www.3gamericas.org. more…

Winner: Taiwanese manufacturer HTC taps into the GSM/WiMAX opportunity with the launch of its GSM/802.16e dual-mode device, the HTC T8290, into the Russian market. WiMAX operator Scartel (who by year's end will have 1600 base stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg), will offer the handset commercially under the brand name Max 4G.  The device appeals to operators holding 2G licenses in developing markets, but experiencing high growth. HTC posted record profits last month, taking in over US$528 million (a 10.8% increase over October and a 22.1% increase over last year) thanks to its expanded line of phones in the United States and elsewhere. Loser: Motorola's declining mobile handset sales led Standard & Poor's to lower the company's long-term corporate credit rating to junk status last Friday, making it one notch below investment grade. Motorola has not had a hit phone since it introduced the Razr in 2004, and the company's CEO Sanjay Jha does not expect its handset business to get back on track before 2010. Consumers are demanding smartphones like Apple's iPhone, which was the most popular phone in the U.S. for the third quarter of 2008.

Event Spotlight

Last week (Dec. 2nd-4th) WiMAXCounts Team Leader & CALA Analyst Cintia Garza attended the WiMAX Forum Latin America Congress, held in Rio de Janeiro. She served as chair most of the first day on Track 1, "Commercial Strategies and Realities for WiMAX deployment," and moderated a panel discussion: "Business vs. Residential Customers: Service Requirements and Revenue Opportunities for WiMAX Operators in Latin America. On the second day Ms. Garza participated in the "‘WiMAX on a Plate'" Breakfast Briefing with the Analysts," and delivered a well-attended presentation entitled "WiMAX Operator Services & Key Metric Analysis: Presenting Key Conclusions from Maravedis' WiMAXCounts Operator Tracking Service".

Conference Highlights included:

• Some CALA regulators are skeptical regarding the potential of WiMAX to increase broadband penetration, and have not supported WiMAX deployments and developments. Latin America reported nearly 350 thousand WiMAX subscribers by the end of September 2008 and 40 deployments across 20 countries according to wimaxcounts.com. The region generated US$48 million in WiMAX revenues, with quarterly ARPU of US$35 for residential and US$79 for business. Quarterly ARPU and revenues declined slightly due to the economic recession.
• There is an increasing interest in vertical applications to respond to customer needs and generate revenue. However, there is a perceived high potential for error since vertical applications are still maturing.
• Yota launched its new GSM+Mobile WiMAX communicator (From HTC), and sold 1500 of the devices, which cost US$1200, within the first day alone. The company's plans for 2009 include international expansion focusing mainly on Vietnam and Brazil.
• Telmex Chile announced it now has 12 000 WiMAX subscribers.
• Alvarion generated US$100 million in revenues from WiMAX in Latin America alone this year.

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