WiMax is making steady progress in Europe. A few recent examples:

• French ADSL operator the Iliad Group is acquiring Altitude Telecom. Altitude, which owns the only license granted by ARCEP (the French national telecommunications regulatory authority) to operate in the 3.5GHz band throughout France, has deployed an 802.16d-compliant BreezeMAX platform from Alvarion. The company has also deployed Cirpack's Class-5 switches to launch telephony services over WiMax for businesses. Iliad will acquire Altitude's residential and WiMax activities. Iliad [1] | Altitude [2]
• T-Com, the fixed-line subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, has started field trials of a WiMax wireless broadband service in Swisttal and St. Augustin, two towns near Bonn, Germany. The field trial includes customers who are out of range of DSL service. The trial will end in March 2006. Story [3]
• The first commercial WiMax network will soon be deployed in Austria by WiMax Telecom using Alcatel gear; and UK telco Telebria said it will be offering WiMax high-speed broadband access to 50,000 homes in the Swale area of Kent. Report [4] | Release [5]

PLUS: Students and faculty at the Argentinian agricultural school of Maria del Carmen Villar use WiMax to video-conference with colleagues in San Francisco. Story [6]

ALSO: Alcatel and the Indian government are joining in WiMax research. Story [7]

FINALLY: Alvarion said it is the first vendor to ship a WiMax CPE which uses the new Intel WiMax chipset. Story [8]