PARIS—The newly formed WiMAX Spectrum Owners Alliance left their inaugural meeting in Paris yesterday determined to sign an international WiMAX roaming agreement by December that will cover all WiMAX services and operate in all WiMAX frequency ranges.
“The agreement will act as the backbone of a future global WiMAX network and adheres to the 802.16e standards,” said the group in its press release.
The group claims it is the first WiMAX organization comprised solely of companies that own spectrum and operate services in the WiMAX bands. Founding members include Unwired Australia, Network Plus Mauritius, UK Broadband, Irish Broadband, Austar Australia/Liberty Group, Telecom New Zealand, WiMAX Telecom Group, Enertel, and Woosh Telecom. Notably absent is Sprint Nextel Corp., which plans a WiMAX network in the United States.
“WiMAX is a disruptive technological breakthrough in the telecommunications sector, and will deliver personal broadband to enable users to access the Web, make telephone calls, watch videos and play music,” said Steve Cosser, chairman of WiSOA. “WiSOA was established to facilitate the adoption of WiMAX globally, and with its exclusive membership of spectrum owners only, is in a unique position to do so.”
WiSOA said the world’s 25,000 GSM roaming agreements have highlighted the importance of global roaming deals and are credited with generating more than $25 billion in revenue each year.
The new group also pointed out that it “has parallels” with alliances such as GSM-A, cable and telephone industry associations as well as the WiMAX Forum. WiSOA said its initiatives will “complement the work of the WiMAX Forum and work closely with them to accelerate WiMAX deployment worldwide.”
