Fujitsu Microelectronics has introduced a highly integrated WiMAX system-on-chip (SoC), the MB87M3400 [ .jpg image ], which complies with the IEEE802.16-2004 standard and that will enable development of a new generation of WiMAX-compliant broadband wireless access (BWA) equipment.
Checking headlines around the Web yesterday and today, I was struck by the eerie silence on Tokyo’s mobile street. There is a ton of coverage on the Livedoor/Fuji TV take-over battle, but that’s largely a Web/media topic and not really related to mobile. Where’s all the silence coming from? And could it be related to Vodafone, Softbank or flat-rate mobile voice calling? To be sure, we’re not totally lacking mobile news; DoCoMo have posted a couple of releases in the past two weeks, including the 22 February announcement of Mobile FeliCa, see WWJ’s video coverage here and the 8 March notice on the launch of the N700i and P700i 3G FOMA handsets. Similarly, KDDI have some releases up (but only in Japanese; nothing in English since 8 February), notably on their new W31S music-player form-factor celly from Sony Ericsson.
Two vendors, one American and the other Japanese, said they have plans to deploy a citywide WiMAX wireless broadband network in Tokyo. U.S. vendor Airspan and Japanese communications operator Yozan said they will start trials for the network in the second quarter of this year. They said that commercial rollout will begin in the fourth quarter, with a fuller-scale launch in December. Japanese telecom operator NTT said earlier in the week that it plans to deploy metro-scale Wi-Fi networks in a number of locations.
Yozan Inc, a pager and PHS service provider, recently announced that it would start a fixed-rate public wireless LAN service partly based on the WiMAX wireless communication standard, in December 2005. Ahead of the service launch, Yozan is starting field tests in the Tokyo metropolitan area in June 2005. This is the first WiMAX service plan announced in Japan. The company plans to have developed 600 core basestations and 4,000 relay stations within Tokyo’s 23 wards by December 2005.
Worldwide demand for Wi-Fi and cellular converged services will reach 55 million by 2010. Western Europe, Japan and Korea will be key UMA markets and, as broadband penetration grows, China will quickly become a very attractive market. Wi-Fi and cellular convergence is about to hit the mainstream, with mobile operators planning to deploy UMA services over the next 12 months, according to a new report from Senza Fili Consulting, a consultancy focused on wireless data technologies and services.
Pack your Aloha shirts and sunglasses. We’re off to Honolulu (virtually), for the annual Pacific Telecommunications Council conference running 16-19 January. PTC promotes the development, understanding and beneficial use of telecom and information technology throughout the entire Pacific Hemisphere. Sessions and exhibitors include VoIP pioneer Jeff Pulver, a WiMax SuperSession and new satellite businesses.
