Xohm

WiMAX Stats: Still awaiting the tipping points

Mike Dolan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:26:08 -0400

By Adlane Fellah

At the end of March 2008, Maravedis' WiMAXCounts research logged nearly 2 million broadband wireless access/WiMAX subscribers. From fourth-quarter 2007 to first-quarter 2008, subscriber quarter-to-quarter growth was 19 percent and we have noticed the same quarterly growth trend since first quarter 2007. With a residential monthly ARPU of $48.08 and business ARPU of $146.02, this subscriber base generated estimated quarterly revenues of $366.22 millions, an increase of 20 percent with respect to the previous quarter.

There continues to be more residential subscribers than business subscribers, despite operator tendency to focus on business offerings. 65 percent of the subscriber base is residential vs. 35 percent business. However, the typical customer mix among operators is 52 percent business and 48 percent residential. This split did not change from the previous quarter. North America was the region with the higher residential customer base with 78 percent residential and 22 percent business.

Approximately 64 percent of the operators covered by WiMAXCounts have commercially launched BWA/WiMAX; 23 percent are currently deploying the network or testing WiMAX; and the remaining 14 percent either have idle spectrum (10 percent) or have returned/lost the right to use the spectrum (3 percent). There were various operators that planned to launch during the first quarter of 2008 and postponed their commercial launch until later this year, such as Global Mobile (Taiwan), which plans to launch in early 2009 and Sprint Nextel which initially planned for a commercial launch of Xohm in April this year.

One of the most important events that occurred during the first half of 2008 was the definitive agreement signed between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire to combine their respective wireless broadband and WiMAX businesses. Sprint will contribute its 2.5 GHz spectrum assets to the venture. The new venture will have more than 40 billion MHz POPs in key U.S. markets through the combined spectrum assets of Sprint and Clearwire. The new entity hopes to provide coverage to 140 million POPs by the end of 2010. Maravedis believes this coverage will be reached towards 2015 at the earliest. It is expected that the transaction will be completed in fourth-quarter 2008. This will considerably impact the future of WiMAX in the U.S. The new entity hopes its head start and spectrum position will help it become the strongest 4G operator compared to those in the LTE camp.

There continues to be more certified 802.16-2004 deployments than mobile and proprietary deployments. We have seen, however, an increasing interest from operators in the mobile version of WiMAX. During this quarter we accounted for 88 deployments using certified 802.16-2005 equipment as compared to 74 in the previous quarter; 106 deployments in the 801.16-2004 standard as compared to 105 in fourth-quarter 2007, and 54 proprietary deployments as compared to 64 in the previous quarter. We attribute the decrease of proprietary deployments mainly to operators upgrading their networks to offer WiMAX either in its fixed "16d" or mobile "16e" versions.

There are operators that have hybrid networks that are deploying a combination of proprietary and certified equipment. New operators that signed agreements this quarter to deploy mobile WiMAX networks include Axtel (Mexico) with Motorola, Embratel (Brazil) with Motorola, BSNL (India) with Soma Networks, VTR (Chile) with Motorola, and VTEL (Georgia) with Alcatel Lucent, among others.

As shown in Exhibit 1, the largest mobile WiMAX deployments reported during first-quarter 2008 were from Korea Telecom with nearly 150,000 subscribers and Wateen Telecom (Pakistan) with more than 10,000 subscribers at the end of that quarter. Wateen is today the largest mobile WiMAX Motorola deployment. In June 2006, Wateen placed an order for 198,000 CPEs from Motorola. Motorola has shipped 60,000 CPEs so far. In our latest conversation with Wateen, the operator said they had 25,000 subscribers by the end of June 2008. The operator expects to complete the order of 198,000 CPEs within the next year. We expect the gap between mobile "16e" deployments and "16d" will narrow once trials of 16e equipment are complete and certified equipment becomes widely available.

Approximately 63 percent of worldwide deployments have occurred in the 3.5 GHz spectrum, while only 17 percent in the 2.5 GHz spectrum. There has, however, been a lot of activity in the allocation of WiMAX frequency bands in the 2.3 Ghz and 2.5 GHz range, especially in Europe. Since the lower the frequency band, the better the propagation characteristics, most operators are interested in obtaining spectrum on these bands to deploy mobile WiMAX networks. That is the case in Russia, for example, where the frequency range of 2300 - 2400 MHz can be transferred from its current military use to WiMAX allocations. It is expected that up to three new licenses may be issued in this frequency range. In Germany an auction is expected for 2.5 GHz -2.69 GHz spectrum, and in Sweden 5 operators were awarded 2.6 GHz licenses. Many other countries are getting ready for upcoming auctions in these bands such as the U.K., Austria and the Netherlands. This might accelerate the number of mobile WiMAX deployments in the world and at the same time narrow the gap between the number of deployments in the 3.5 GHz and 2.5 GHz band--that is, if the spectrum is acquired by non-cellular operators open to deploying WiMAX! This is not a guarantee at this point and Intel cannot invest in every greenfield operator!

Adlane Fellah is the CEO and founder of Maravedis, a research and analysis firm focusing on broadband wireless technologies including WiMAX, 802.20, TD-CDMA and wireless local loop systems.

Sprint's Xohm taps Mformation for remote device management

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:28:13 -0400

Sprint's WiMAX division announced a deal with device management software company Mformation Technologies to deliver device management capabilities for new Xohm-branded WiMAX-enabled mobile devices. Sprint plans to use Mformation's software to remotely manage the WiMAX devices on its network. The operator is commercially launching WiMAX in Baltimore in September.

Device management will be critical for Sprint, and likewise Clearwire, which is merging with Sprint later this year, to enable a number of devices to come onto the WiMAX network, regardless of whether they were purchased via Sprint or an external retailer that has no affiliation with the operator. Sprint's goal is to allow a plethora of devices--ranging from Internet tablets to telematics consoles--to operate on the network in an open access manner.

Matt Bancroft, chief marketing officer with Mformation, noted that while the device management software is optimized for WiMAX devices such as data cards and dongles, it also must support the many dual-mode CDMA/WiMAX devices that will run on the network because WiMAX won't be ubiquitious for some time. Given the sparse coverage, it's likely that much of the device management processes will occur via CDMA initially.

Bancroft added that the wave of devices that come to market next year will require additional device management capabilities that aren't available today, but that device management capabilities will catch up.

In June, Mformation and Bridgewater Systems announced their intention to integrate Bridgewater's service control and subscriber data management solution with Mformation's service manager to enable WiMAX operators to automatically detect, provision and manage WiMAX devices over the air using industry-standard IP and OMA DM protocols.

For more:
- check out this release

Related stories:
Sprint: 'We're creating a platform for innovation.' Open access story
WiMAX forum predicts 133 million users by 2012. WiMAX story

Clearwire looking for partnership deals in Europe

Lynnette Luna — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:31:42 -0400

Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff said the company is in discussions with European companies to create partnerships similar to Clearwire's deal in the U.S. to help it build out mobile WiMAX across Europe, according to an Unstrung article. The operator owns licenses in seven European countries, covering about 200 million people. Clearwire is pooling its assets with Sprint's Xohm business with cash infusions from Intel, Google and three cable operators.

Clearwire has acquired 3.5 GHz licenses in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Romania, and Spain, and through its affiliate in Denmark, Danske Telecom A/S. At the end of March, Clearwire had just 51,000 customers in Brussels and Ghent, Belgium; Dublin; and Seville, Spain.

For more:
- read Unstrung

Related stories:
Clearwire expects 30 million subs by 2017. Clearwire story
New Sprint-Clearwire deal a shot in the arm for mobile WiMAX. Clearwire editorial

Sprint plays WiMAX consultant in Malaysia

Lynnette Luna — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:00:38 -0400

YTL e-Solutions Berhad (YLTLe), a subsidiary of YTL Corporation Berhad that invests in technology companies, has made a strategic agreement with Sprint's Xohm WiMAX business to help it roll out a WiMAX network in Malaysia.

YTLe said Xohm will provide expertise in key areas such as developing an ecosystem, infrastructure design and network deployment. This is the first consulting project for Xohm, which will work to replicate the way it is rolling out WiMAX in the U.S. Xohm is being absorbed into Clearwire later this year with significant investments from Intel, cable operators and Google. According to Atish Gude, senior vice president of mobile broadband operations with Xohm, the partnership with YTLe will drive "a stronger ecosystem, increasing economies of scale and strengthening global roaming opportunities."

For more:
-read WiMAX Day

Related stories:
New Sprint-Clearwire deal a shot in the arm for mobile WiMAX. WiMAX story
Sprint: Baltimore gets commercial WiMAX in Sept. Sprint WiMAX story

Sprint: WiMAX ready in Baltimore, Washington D.C.

Mon, 19 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Sprint Nextel and Samsung Electronics announced that WiMAX services in Washington D.C. and Baltimore have completed the testing phase successfully and are now ready to launch commercially. The companies, however, did not disclose a specific date for when the services will be made available to the public. Sprint spokesman John Polivka said the services will make their full commercial launch sometime "later this year."

"This is a major step towards launch readiness and Sprint is extremely pleased with the performance of the mobile WiMAX network and access devices from Samsung," said Barry West, president of Sprint's mobile broadband network branch, called Xohm. "The collaboration with Samsung and our other partners has created a WiMAX ecosystem that has now proven that it can deliver this new technology to the marketplace well ahead of any feasible alternative."

Right now only PC cards have been used, but mobile devices such as Nokia's tablet are also in the pipeline. Plans to embed WiMAX chips into various personal devices, including digital cameras, have been widely discussed.

Recently, Clearwire, with is merging with Sprint with the help of cable partners, Google and Intel, announced plans to launch mobile WiMAX in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Grand Rapids, Mich., where it has a deal with the government, after it launches in Portland, Ore., during the second quarter of this year. It will do so prior to its merger with Sprint.

For more on Sprint's WiMAX plans in D.C. and Baltimore:
- read this article from Washington Business Journal

New Sprint-Clearwire deal a shot in the arm for mobile WiMAX

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

In a complex deal that will certainly be critiqued for months to come, Sprint and Clearwire announced plans to combine their WiMAX businesses and create a new company that will include a $3.2 billion investment from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Trilogy Equity Partners. (See a breakdown of the deal below.)

For sure, it's a shot in the arm for the mobile WiMAX industry, which, right or wrong, is tied to the success of Sprint's planned nationwide WiMAX rollout. I spoke with Atish Gude, senior vice president of mobile broadband operations with Xohm about the implications of the deal:

"This is a big day for for WiMAX, and it lends a lot of credibility for us to build our business model. We have always talked about the business model first. We are talking about broadening the chipset system, getting WiMAX into consumer electronics, eliminating subsidies and instituting at-home provisioning so customers don't have to stand in line. Those are all part in parcel to really change the mobile broadband experience in a way it ought to be."

About Intel's involvement... "Intel has done a great job on the Centrino platform, and they will extend credibility to the new brand."

Regarding the cable partners' involvement... "To have access to Sprint's and the cable companies' distribution channels is tremendous because it's hard to develop distribution. [The new business] will have a retail arm for consumers on its own but will also leverage the channels of our partners. The partners will have wholesale rights so they can bundle those products with their existing products ... There are a lot of benefits to the cable companies. They get access to 3G and 4G, while the new Clearwire will get a good cash infusion that takes the variability and uncertainty out of the business."

About Google's investment... "Google can extend its suite of applications to mobility. Customers will search on a great search engine and connect with a location-based engine that makes it even more powerful for our different service providers."

Will the Xohm brand go away?... "The new name of the company is called Clearwire, but Xohm is powerful and the new management will be given the opportunity regarding how to position the Xohm name in the market." In other words, no decision has been made to eliminate the name.

Stay tuned to more implications of the deal on Monday.--Lynnette

MOT: WiMAX won't have financial impact until 2009

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:54 -0400

During Motorola's earnings call, CEO Greg Brown said the vendor has shipped 3,600 WiMAX base stations and 120,000 customer premise equipment devices worldwide. The number is a bit of a jump from the 2,000 base stations and tens of thousands of CPE devices the vendor announced in December, but a far cry from having any financial impact for the company.

However, Brown said the WiMAX deals Motorola has been making are beginning their commercial deployment phases, which should increase WiMAX equipment volumes, although the company won't see an impact until 2009.

The vendor has to be champing at the bit to see Sprint roll out its network.

To find out more about Motorola's WiMAX numbers and the company's earnings:
- check out this article from Telephony
- read this Motorola Q1 press release

Related articles:
Motorola introduces 2.5 GHz WiMAX CPE Report on Motorola's WiMAX business
Backhaul, billing causes of Xohm delay Report on Sprint's Xohm

The CTIA news that didn't happen

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:59:58 -0400

The big buzz at the CTIA 2008 trade show here in Las Vegas was the hope that Sprint Nextel would make its big announcement around its WiMAX Xohm business. Word was that Sprint wanted to make an announcement concerning a WiMAX joint venture that would include a number of players: Comcast, Time Warner, Best Buy, Intel, Google and of course Sprint and Clearwire. Sources close to the operator say the deal was pulled back at the final hour due to concerns over joint venture control.

That joint venture, of course, would represent the resurrection of a previous Sprint-Clearwire joint venture that went south. Meanwhile, the nationwide launch of Xohm has been delayed. During FierceWireless' co-located conference today, The Path to 4G, Xohm President and CTO Barry West indicated the company wasn't ready to roll out the technology this month as planned and declined to indicate when a launch would happen. WiMAX is currently up and running in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Chicago on a soft-launch basis. It's clear from the conference, however, that Sprint is running full steam ahead with its vision for WiMAX. It just needs the cash infusion to do it.

Meanwhile, Arun Sarin, chief executive of Vodafone Group, reiterated his call for the wireless industry to adopt LTE as the 4G standard and give WiMAX a home within that standard. Sarin made similar comments at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. Of course, those are fighting words for a company like Sprint. During a keynote on Tuesday, Sprint President and CEO Dan Hesse said that unlike 4G alternatives like LTE, WiMAX works now.

Finally, according to NextWave President and CEO Allen Salmasi, the company is planning a rather large LTE trial later this year with an unnamed operator. -Lynnette

Sprint to make Xohm SDK available

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

While we have noted that Sprint plans to run its Xohm WiMAX network as an open access network, Sprint's SVP of Xohm, Atish Gude, told TechRepublic that the carrier plans to release the SDK and open APIs for Xohm by year end.

"We're going to be open on devices and open on applications," said Gude. "We're here to serve the Internet. Our foremost priority is providing really good access ... This is the open Internet. We're not going to block anybody." Gude also addressed the subsequent privacy concerns that an open access network conjures for some: "We will absolutely have the highest level of privacy, and we will let customers control when to expose [their data]."

For more on Xohm:
- read this article from TechRepublic

ALSO: To hear more about the Xohm launch, hear Atish Gude speak at FierceWireless' 4G event at CTIA Wireless in April. Site

Related Articles:
Sprint reveals WiMAX partners Report
WiMAX's future rests heavily in Sprint's hands Report

Rumor: Intel to facilitate Sprint/Clearwire deal

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Rumors are circulating again that Sprint Nextel will spin off its Xohm WiMAX broadband unit and form a joint venture with Clearwire. The Street.com is reporting the deal between the two firms will include a $2 billion investment from Intel Capital.

If this rumored deal actually goes through, it will give a much-needed vote of confidence to WiMAX. Many companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week said much of WiMAX's future was resting on Sprint's Xohm business. Without Xohm, mobile WiMAX may not be anything other than a niche play.

Find out the latest on Xohm at the FierceWireless co-located event "4G and Beyond" on April 2 at CTIA Wireless 2008. Barry West, CTO of Sprint and head of the Xohm unit will be a keynote speaker and will provide a status update on Xohm. Here's a link to the agenda.

For more on Sprint and Clearwire:
- see this Street.com report

Related articles:
WiMAX's future still rests heavily in Sprint's hands Report
Sprint launches three markets as planned Report