- Taiwan's ITRI (Industrial Technology Research
Institute) announced on February 8 that it has teamed up with Israeli WiMAX
solution provider Alvarion for the establishment of a WiMAX IOT
(Interoperability Testing) lab in Taiwan, Central News Agency of Taiwan
reported. As per the memorandum of cooperation signed by ITRI and Alvarion, the
lab will be located at ITRI's Hsinchu base in northern Taiwan. Prior to the
ITRI-Alvarion cooperation, other international WiMAX equipment vendors,
including Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent, have set up their own IOT labs in
Taiwan, too.
- Korea's Samsung Electronics has obtained an
additional contract from Russian WiMAX carrier Yota for the supply and
deployment of a nationwide mobile WiMAX network in Russia, TeleGeography
reported on February 9. Samsung has been Yota's WiMAX equipment provider since
2008. Starting in March 2010, Samsung is expected to supply over 5,000 mobile
WiMAX base stations and ACR (Access Control Routers) to Yota for the carrier's
plan to expand its WiMAX network from three to 15 cities in 2010, including
Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Eventually, Yota expects
to extend its network coverage to 180 cities across Russia. So far, Samsung has
provided more than 4,500 mobile WiMAX macro and pico base stations for Yota's
commercial WiMAX services in Russia.
Meanwhile, Samsung has also been awarded a
contract by WIND Telecom of the Dominican Republic for mobile WiMAX deployment
in the country, according to a press release by WIND Telecom on February 5.
WIND Telecom plans to launch mobile WiMAX services in the capital city Santo Domingo
and the second largest city Santiago in the third quarter of 2010. Samsung is
expected to supply its mobile WiMAX total solution, complete with systems,
terminals, training, and engineering services, for this project. First-phase
network installation and deployment are slated to begin in the second quarter
of 2010.