Fujitsu-Airspan Alliance Wins WiMAX Base Station Order from KDDI
March 07, 2008
Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu and US equipment manufacturer Airspan Networks have formed a strategic alliance to jointly build and sell WiMAX base stations. Furthermore, these two companies have jointly won a contract to supply these base stations to KDDI, according to a Nikkei report on March 2.
The deal is estimated to amount up to 10 billion Yen (US$97 million; US$1= 103 Yen). Fujitsu and Airspan have reportedly developed the world's smallest base stations - one-third the size of older models - for easy installation in buildings. The new base station is projected to facilitate KDDI's deployment of WiMAX service, slated for launch in Japan in 2009. Building on the KDDI contract, Fujitsu expects to boost its annual worldwide WiMAX business revenue to 40 billion Yen (US$388 million) in 2010.
Fujitsu and Airspan are scheduled to start shipping these base stations in the second quarter of 2008, Reuters reported.