The WiMAX Forum has reportedly canceled the first wave of certification profile testing and moved on to the the second wave of certification requirements along with more certification profiles such as frequency bands and channel sizes, according to a report from Mobile Broadband News. During its third-quarter results conference call, Airspan, a board member of the WiMAX Forum, said the first wave had in fact been canceled and estimated that its first WiMAX Forum certified mobile WiMAX equipment could be given approval by February 2008 with commercial availability six months later. Operators such as Sprint have been vocal about their desire for Wave 2 devices that incorporate MIMO for better performance.
WiMAX Forum officials cited in the article said that Wave 1 testing wasn't canceled and is still in the planning stage but it appears that it will only be reserved for the 2.3 GHz profile in South Korea to support WiBro. The first WiMAX Forum certified products based on Wave 2 requirements, which will use 2.5 GHz spectrum like Sprint uses, are expected to be announced in the first half of 2008.
For more:
-check out this article [1] from Mobile Broadband News
Related article:
- Nortel enters the Wave 2 device market [2]
Links:
[1] http://mobilebroadbandnews.com/2007/11/08/update-wimax-forum-shuffles-priorities-to-accelerate-certified-mobile-wimax-products/#more-428
[2] http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/nortel-becomes-one-stop-shop-wimax-entering-wave-2-device-market