YTL Communications, which has the reputation of being the world’s first operator with a fully converged 4G network, recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Japan’s leading WiMAX broadband service provider, UQ Communications.
The agreement is set to further enhance both entities’ leadership positions in the 4G space and to advance the development and adoption of next-generation WiMAX technologies like WiMAX2.
The world’s first WiMAX2 field test was conducted by UQ Communications in Tokyo, Japan, where the delegation from YTL Communications, led by YTL Group Managing Director Tan Sri (Dr.) Francis Yeoh, along with some 50 other international guests, witnessed a WiMAX2 wireless mobile network deliver a downlink speed of over 130mbps in a moving vehicle.
In addition, YTL Communications and UQ Communications will act as catalysts to the development and adoption of WiMAX2, and are expected to promote international roaming amongst WiMAX operators worldwide.
WiMAX2, is the next generation WiMAX standard based on IEEE 802.16m, an ITU designated International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) standard. It is one of two technologies labelled as “4G”, alongside rival standard LTE (Long Term Evolution).
According to Market research firm Infonetics Research, the 4G infrastructure market is set to hit $16 billion by 2015, driven by LTE and WiMAX investments. WiMAX likely will become established as the solution of choice for niche applications, such as supporting the smart grid, public safety, private citywide communications segments, as well as more basic broadband needs. With LTE gaining high ground and visibility around the world, people tend to overlook the fact that the WiMAX equipment market, which jumped 85% in 2010 to $1.7 billion, remains bigger than the LTE market, and continues to show healthy growth.
Samsung is the top-selling WiMAX vendor, followed by Huawei, Alvarion, and Motorola. The number of 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile subscribers is forecast to reach 7 billion by 2015.
Yes 4G, YTL Communications’ fast-growing wireless broadband service is expected to double its subscribers to 400,000 by end of 2011, currently already covering 55% of the Malaysian population.
