TM host WiMax WMC 2nd general meeting

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) played host to 18 leading global telecommunications companies at the 2nd WMC general meeting held at Menara TM recently.
 
TM is one of the founding WMC members and was elected as a member of its Executive Management Committee to represent Asia and Australasia in October 2006.  Korea Telecom Corporation (KT) is the founding member of WMC, who led the initiative and currently heads the committee since its inception in May 2006.

WMC is the world’s first alliance of international WiBro and mobile WiMAX operators. It aims to develop relevant business models for the mobile WiMAX global roaming belt and widen the adoption of the technology. It also aims to improve interoperability amongst businesses through this collaboration, as well as to strengthen the service competitiveness via information sharing. The inception of the WMC community and subsequent close industry collaboration will provide a boost for the wider use of the service globally.
 
WiMAX is short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, and provides wireless data via the IEEE 802.16 standard. It is used to provide last-mile access, and delivers 20Mbps of data transfers, up to a range of 10km.

“TM is proud to be hosting this WMC meeting, which is seen as a vital initiative that will drive wider standardization of the service among its members. WiMAX is set to be the leading technology driving greater user mobility throughout the region and globally. We are working together to further develop these pivotal wireless standards through open information sharing sessions to tap on each member’s varied strength and experience among other global telecommunications operators,” said Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia Business, Telekom Malaysia Berhad.
 
“As the leading telecommunications provider in Malaysia, TM’s involvement and commitment to the WMC ensures that we will be ready to adopt these latest technologies while ensuring that we comply with global industry standards. Our objective is to ensure easy accessibility to all coupled with a better broadband experience for everyone no matter where they are,” said Zamzamzairani.
 
The 2nd WMC General Meeting held at Menara Telekom last week, was attended by delegates and representatives from WMC members, which included telcos who are existing operators, potential operators of the wireless technology and those who are exploring the possibility of deploying WiMAX.
 
The 19 members of WMC are Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan), Covad Communications (U.S.A), e-Access (Japan), Etisalat (U.A.E), FET (Taiwan), FiTEL (Taiwan), FPT Telecom (Vietnam), KT Corporation (Korea), NTT Broadband Platform, Inc. (Japan), NTC (Russia), NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (Japan), Omnivision (Venezuela), Pacific Internet Corporation Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), PCCW (Hong Kong), Portus (Croatia), Telekom Malaysia (Malaysia), Telecom Italia (Italy), Green Packet (Malaysia) and Unwired (Australia).

Greater synergy among WMC members

At meeting last week, WiMAX vendors such as Alcatel Lucent, Motorola, POSDATA, Samsung and Kisan Telecom shared their latest technology roadmap as well as their range of products and services. The WMC members also reviewed the latest innovative WiMAX solutions from solution providers based in Korea.
KT showcased their WiBro strategies, which primarily focused on network synergy and service integration, developing compellings packages for potential customers, and their device deployment roadmap.
 
At the meeting, the WMC Business Development working group led by Japan’s eAccess took this opportunity to present on its initiative, which is to study and develop business models to boost the development of inter-member business, and to drive more widespread adoption of mobile WiMAX.
 
Most significantly, the WMC also discussed the future of seamless global roaming for mobile WiMAX users, regardless of its country of origin or device. This is in line with the mobile nature of business users - an unavoidable reality of today’s globalised world. A WiMAX standardisation roadmap was discussed, in order to better synchronise the planning and deployment of WiMAX networks amongst WMC members.
 
Chairman of WMC Committee, Dr. Hyun-Myung Pyo, who is also Executive Vice President of Mobile WiMAX (WiBro) Business Unit for KT expressed his contentment at being able to lead such an important community of telecommunications companies. He said, “KT will continuously share its knowledge and know-how accumulated while preparing for the commercial WiBro service and initiate collaboration with others to widen the global market.” He also called for concerted industry efforts towards global roaming to provide convenient wireless Internet access to more global users.