More perspective on mobile WiMAX certification

Last week the WiMAX Forum announced the first mobile WiMAX products to receive a certified seal of approval. Four base stations and four subscriber units for the 2.3 GHz band were approved from Posdata, Runcom Technologies, Samsung Electronics and Sequans Communications.

But these products only received Wave 1 certification, which doesn't include the features such as MIMO that operators are asking for. WiMAX chip maker Beceem has said the move has little practical benefit since operators want Wave-2 certification, and it saw no point in building Wave 1 products.

"... Due to the misleading statements about the impact of this Wave 1 certification it is important to point out that [this] certification means 'conformance testing', which can not be confused with product performance and interoperability testing, which operators really and only care about," the company said in a statement emailed to FierceBroadbandWireless.

Current Analysis' Peter Jarich, however, had a different perspective on the WiMAX Forum's move. "We are taking a positive stance on the WiMAX Forum's certification of initial mobile WiMAX products," Jarich wrote in a note. "Where operators have been launching 802.16e-based products for a while, certification (and the interoperability it promises) is expected to drive additional interest in the technology along with new network launches and network expansions. And, while the certifications are based on a 2.3 GHz profile (Wave-1) that may have limited global value, they do pave the way for the Wave-2 certifications most WiMAX operators have been eagerly awaiting."

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