First Mobile WiMAX Network Comes to CIS

ARTICLE

First Mobile WiMAX Network Comes to CIS

By Cintia Garza, Market Analyst
Contact the author at cintia@maravedis-bwa.com

Interview with
Mr. Khaled Al Amayreh
VP – CIS/CEE & APAC region
VTEL Holdings Ltd.

By Cintia Garza, Senior Analyst with Maravedis Inc.

Overview:

VTEL Georgia is an affiliated company of Dubai-based VTEL Holdings LTD. -- a multinational corporation established in 2006 and based in Dubai with operations throughout the MENA, Africa, CIS, Latin / Central America and Caribbean regions. The company also has operations in various markets including Jordan, Iraq, Kurdistan, Georgia, Barbados and Burundi, using different technologies such as CDMA, GSM and WiMAX.

VTEL Holdings acquired two licenses in Georgia on September 3rd, 2007 to build and operate the first nationwide mobile WiMAX network in the country under the name VTEL-Georgia. In total, VTEL Georgia owns 50MHz nationwide, and is the first operator to deploy a mobile WiMAX network in CIS. In addition, the company also owns licenses to deploy WiMAX in Burundi, Barbados and Iraq.

VTEL-Georgia is focused on advancing Georgia's telecommunications industry and believes mobile WiMAX is the ideal solution for establishing broadband data and voice communications services to overcome the country’s poor telecom infrastructure and geographical challenges.

Since January 2008, VTEL Georgia has been running WIMAX trials with a limited number of customers in Tbilisi and Batumi. The objective of the trials is to demonstrate the effectiveness of WIMAX technology.

The commercial launch, which is planned for September 2008, will take place in Tbilisi and Batumi. The company will be offering wireless broadband services under the commercial brand MAXIMALI. Based on the IEEE 802.16e standard, the services will operate at the 2.3GHz frequency. VTEL has already chosen Alcatel Lucent as their technology partner for base stations, CPEs and backhaul services, and expects to continue their network expansion into the urban and suburban regions of Georgia throughout 2008.

How do you see the pricing of WiMAX equipment? Is it favorable?
The price of CPEs is still very challenging; this is a big barrier for adding more WiMAX customers as the cost is still around $200 per unit.

So what is VTEL’s CPE strategy going forward? Are you going to sell or lease them?
We are going to address both the residential and business segments, and the strategy of selling or leasing the CPEs will depend on things like yearly contract commitments.

Will VTEL focus more on the residential segment or the business segment?
We are looking at 60% business and 40% residential, but hopefully as the price of the CPEs decrease the focus will be more residential than business.

So why did you chose mobile WiMAX? What are the opportunities for mobile WiMAX in Georgia?
The kind of spectrum we have is mostly allocated for mobilility. Our vision is to provide mobile WiMAX within the year, and we are going to be ready for that.

You said you will become the first mobile WiMAX deployment in the CIS… Who do you consider your competitors in this market?
There is competition, and competition is healthy, but we are the only ones on the ground right now; we are the only ones rolling out services -- the only ones working.

Which other applications besides broadband access are you planning to introduce?
Broadband access will be the main service, but we are also looking at introducing VoIP.

What are the main challenges you have faced while implementing the network or the main challenges you expect to face in the future?
The biggest challenge honestly is the pricing of the CPEs. Besides that, well, WiMAX is a very new technology and we will see how it works as it stabilizes.

Are you open to work with other vendors in the future?
We are customers and the market is open for us. Our 6 running operations are currently working with several vendors.

For more information about this and other major WiMAX Operator’s Deployments please visit: www.wimaxcounts.com

…. The complete version of the interview is available to WiMAXCounts™ subscribers only. The details include spectrum info, WiMAX subscriber numbers, subscriber split (residential & enterprise), ARPU, total base stations deployed along with breakdown by vendor and standard type, total CPEs deployed along with breakdown by vendor and standard type, competitive advantage, plus additional information.

For more information you can contact the author: cintia@maravedis-bwa.com