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    HomeNewsAustria's first commercial WiMAX under way

    Austria’s first commercial WiMAX under way

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    First phase due for completion within a month

    Alcatel today announced that it has won a contract with WiMAX Telecom GmbH, a subsidiary of Swiss WiMAX Telecom AG, for the supply and installation of a turnkey WiMAX network. WiMAX Telecom GmbH was the sole provider to obtain the nationwide rights to the WiMAX frequencies in Austria at the auction of
    October 4, 2004. This is the first commercial broadband wireless access system using the new WiMAX standard in Austria.

    The  first  phase  of  deployment  is scheduled for completion in September 2005. It  will  enable a representative panel of users in the Southeastern counties  of  Styria and  Burgenland’s  to benefit from wireless broadband access  to  the Internet with symmetric data throughput of  up to 2Mb/s per user.

    After  making high-speed data services a reality for local households, SMEs or  public  services  in  such suburban and low-density environments, WiMAX Telecom will connect enterprise and residential users on a larger scale and will provide broadband wireless access to any kind of unwired professionals in urban and suburban environments over the Austrian territory.

    Under  the  terms  of  this  contract,  won in an open tender, Alcatel will supply  WiMAX Telecom with its end-to-end WiMAX solution including the base stations as well as the CPEs (Customer Premises Equipment).

    Dov  Bar-Gera, active Chairman of WiMAX Telecom commented: “After extensive evaluation  of various vendors’ proposals, we are confident we will benefit from Alcatel’s flexible and comprehensive solutions as well as professional
    services,  including  network design, optimization and operation. Thanks to Alcatel’s  end-to-end  commercial  solution  installed  within a short time frame, we will now be able to reach the consumers who are still looking for their   first  mobile  broadband  communications  experience  in  Austria.”

    Bar-Gera  added:  “Having  a  reliable  partner for our Austrian deployment provides  us  with  the  best  starting point in our international roll-out strategy,  as  we also plan to introduce WiMAX solutions in Slovakia, where we recently gained a WiMAX license.”

    Marc Rouanne, Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel’s mobile activities, said: “We  are  glad  to partner with WiMAX Telecom in this project as it clearly recognizes  Alcatel’s  as  a  leading vendor of WiMAX networking solutions. Thanks  to  its  leading  position  in  fixed  and  mobile broadband access together  with  its  expertise  in  turnkey,  end-to  end  optimization and
    integration  project,  Alcatel  is  committed  to  provide  WiMAX Telecom’s customers  with  a  seamless  broadband  access  experience, whether in the office, at home or on the pause.”