- India's BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.) plans to lead off commercial WiMAX services in Ahmedabad in January, India's Daily News & Analysis reported on January 19. Previously BSNL had conducted WiMAX trials in eight Indian cities. However, the company's WiMAX deployment will focus on the rural regions, with a planned network coverage of 25,000 villages within one year. BSNL plans to spend 16 billion Rupees (US$326.43 million; US$1=49.02 Rupees) deploying its mobile WiMAX network in the 2.5MHz frequency band. However, the progress of BSNL's WiMAX deployment is contingent on technology issues as well as the auction of BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) spectrum.

- Malaysia's Penang has seen the trial launch of WiMAX service by Packet One Networks on January 19, The Edge Daily reported. In the initial phase of the Wireless@Penang WiMAX project, seven locations in Penang are able to access the WiMAX service. It is projected that within 18 months, WiMAX coverage on Penang Island and Seberang Perai will reach 70%. Packet One has earmarked 25 million Ringgit (US$6.93 million; US$1=3.61 Ringgit) to 30 million Ringgit (US$8.31 million) for the first phase of the three-phase project. The trial run will commence on February 9, lasting through the official launch in mid-2009.

- Alcatel-Lucent recently announced the achievements of its Taiwan WiMAX center, established with Taiwan's MOEA (Ministry of Economic Affairs), in 2008: including IOT (Interoperability Testing), device certification, and strengthening of cooperation between Taiwan's equipment manufacturers and global WiMAX service operators, according to a press release by Alcatel-Lucent. Also, Alcatel-Lucent revealed the company's new WiMAX strategy, pledging to continue the development of its 802.16e product line (Rev-e) and concentrate on the dominant WiMAX market worldwide. Meanwhile, the company will also actively seek the convergence of the WiMAX and LTE (Long Term Evolution) standards. Simplification of the SIACS (Seal of Interoperability Acceptance for Commercial Services) certification process is also among Alcatel-Lucent's main goals for this WiMAX center, aiming to enable the Taiwanese companies to deal with IOT and certification matters locally.