With commercial launches of WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) services expected by the year’s end or early next year, operators are gearing up for their respective rollouts with trial services and a variety of applications.
Vmax Telecom Co (威邁思), one of the six WiMAX licensees, said it planned to launch a trial service sometime next month to pave the way for a full commercial launch tentatively set for December.
“We plan to get 2,200 volunteers to sign up for our WiMAX test run next month. We will analyze their feedback, including their expectations on service fee plans, before launching the commercial service,” Vmax brand and communications manager Sylvia Chang (張美玲) said.
The company is still waiting for the green light from the National Communications Commission to launch the trial run, she said on the sidelines of the three-day Broadband Taiwan 2009 exposition, which opened yesterday at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Exhibition Hall III.
To raise awareness of WiMAX’s high-speed data transmission capabilities, Vmax yesterday announced a tie-up with cab operator M-Taxi (大都會衛星).
By the end of the year, mobile Internet devices installed on 500 M-Taxi cabs will be linked to Vmax’s WiMAX service in Taipei to enable passengers to browse the Internet, play games, watch TV or receive text messages on vendor promotions when they pass through specific locations.
The number of M-Taxi cabs offering the service is expected to increase to 1,000 by February, Chang said.
Vmax will be joined by First International Telecom Corp (大眾電信) and Global Mobile Corp (全球一動) in offering WiMAX 4G access in northern Taiwan. Tatung Co (大同), Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and Vee Telecom Multimedia Co (威達超舜) are licensed to offer WiMAX services in the south.
Vee Telecom said that it would be ready to start its trial run by the end of the year and have a commercial launch by the first quarter of next year.
The company will push its “Vee TV” digital Web television service as the main application to attract users in Taichung, Vee Telecom public relations official Evelyn Chen (陳怡玲) said.
In addition to providing digital Internet TV at home, Vee TV will be tailored for mobile Internet devices or WiMAX phones to allow consumers to watch TV while they are on the go, she added.
According to estimates from the Industrial Technology Research Institute, the global output value of end-user WiMAX devices will be worth around US$9.33 billion by 2012. Taiwan, a manufacturing base of WiMAX devices, is expected to see its WiMAX output multiply by a factor of 162 from 2006 levels to US$3.78 billion by 2012.
This year’s Broadband Taiwan exposition focuses on two main themes — Broadband World and WiMAX — and features three pavilions: Broadband, WiMAX Forum and M-Taiwan.
A total of 132 companies are exhibiting their products at 300 booths.
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