MyAdhan Blog

Link: WiMax woos the Middle East

The next generation of internet and mobile services is a step closer after two major announcements, in the Gulf and the US, on the high-speed wireless standard called WiMax brought the technology to the brink of the mainstream. In the United States, a consortium of mobile network operators and technology companies announced new details of its plan to roll out a nationwide WiMax network. The backing of heavy hitters in the industry, including Google and ­Intel, gave the consortium and the WiMax technology it is promoting an important boost. And last Thursday in Saudi Arabia, Intel launched one of the most advanced communications research and development centres in the region, which will focus on the deployment of WiMax across the Middle East and Africa. “Our company is interested in two things: computing power and bandwidth,” said Craig Barrett, the chairman of Intel. “If there is a platform that offers more bandwidth, we will put our full weight behind it, and that is what we are doing with WiMax.” The US consortium, trading under the name Clearwire, said it expected more than 30 million subscribers to its service in the coming 10 years. The rollout would be underway by the end of the year, and by late next year up to 80 million Americans would be within range of its network. WiMax is one of a number of high-speed wireless technologies competing to become the standard for both mobile and internet access. A single WiMax transmission tower can cover a 30km radius with wireless internet at speeds faster than current DSL services, while also providing a traditional mobile phone service. Such reach means that WiMax networks can provide citywide wireless internet. Baltimore will be the first city in the US to have such a system, due in September. A WiMax network covering Amsterdam will be fully online at the end of August, with customers paying €20 (Dh115) per month to access wireless internet anywhere in the city.

The technology also has the potential to replace copper wire as the “last mile” bridge that connects households to telephone and internet services. Instead of laying cable to every single home - an expensive, time consuming process - companies can build WiMax towers, with receiver boxes in each house. This possibility for a faster, cheaper broadband rollout has raised interest in WiMax in the Middle East and Africa, where phone companies and internet providers struggle to keep pace with fast-growing cities. Prince Turki Saud Mohammed Al Saud, a vice president of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, the technology cluster that will host the WiMax facility, said the WiMax was a key tool for increasing broadband access. “Research and development, and in particular broadband availability via widespread implementation of WiMax, is critical in enabling Arab economies to continue to grow”, he said. Saudi Arabia, where just 2.4 per cent of the population currently have broadband access, “seemed to be an ideal environment and location to put the laboratory”, said Mr Barrett. “Saudi has been particularly aggressive when it comes to interest in WiMax, so it made sense for us to come here”, he said, adding that he had seen high interest in the technology among the region’s telecommunications industry. But rolling out WiMax will be a technical challenge, as the system is not compatible with the GSM networks currently in use - hence the R&D facility. “WiMax is a new technology, so you run the gamut of issues: carriers need their equipment and capabilities certified to international standards, regulators need to understand the implications and so on,” said Mr Barrett. The most significant commercial application of WiMax in the GCC today is in Bahrain, where Zain, a Kuwaiti operator, uses the technology to drive the Zain@Home ­service. The service gives customers a telephone line and internet access, with the telephone using voice-over-IP (VOIP) technology to make calls over the internet. No cable connection is required, with households using a receiver box to communicate wirelessly with WiMax transmission towers. Fixed-line services like home telephones and internet access are likely to be the next major area of competition and liberalisation in the Arab world. WiMax represents an attractive option for new entrants to quickly make their services universally available, without needing to lay new cable or enter into infrastructure-sharing agreements with incumbents. In Egypt, where a new fixed-line licence will be auctioned late next month, the winning company will have the option to deploy a national WiMax network. Such a network would help it quickly begin to take market share from the incumbent fixed line monopoly, Telecom Egypt.