Samsung today has officially announced four WiMAX/WiBro devices. The Samsung SPH-P9200 UMPC has a foldable QWERTY keyboard, Windows XP OS, HSDPA, Mobile WiMAX and Wi-Fi connectivity, 1 GHz Via C7-M CPU and 512MB of RAM.
The Samsung SPH-M8200 slider PDA phone has CDMA EV-DO and Mobile WiMAX connectivity, full touchscreen, Bluetooth and lots of apps.
In addition to stand-alone mobile devices, Samsung also released a couple of USB modems that connect your laptop to a WiMAX network. These include Samsung SPH-H1300 and Samsung SWT-H200K WiMAX modems.
Samsung was the first company make mobile WiBro devices in South Korea. Korea Telecom (KT), the largest fixed line operator, and SK Telecom, the largest mobile operator, in South Korea have been offering commercial Mobile WiMAX (WiBro) services since June 2006. Currently there are over 83,000 subscribers in the Seoul metropolitan area.
In Japan, the number of wireless broadband Internet subscribers is expected to exceed 20 million by 2015. The Japanese government has said it expects to award two WiMax network licenses by the end of the year. The Mobile WiMAX venture is targeting the 2.5-GHz frequency.
NTT DoCoMo, the largest Japanese wireless service provider, and ACCA Networks have created a WiMax partnership in Japan. KDDI, the second largest mobile phone service provider in Japan, has been a longtime supporter of WiMax, and uses CDMA technology for its cellular network. Intel is teaming up with KDDI to launch WiMax in Japan. The joint venture, called Wireless Broadband Planning K.K. (WBPK), will seek to obtain a license from the Japanese government to operate a WiMax network. Other WBPK members include Kyocera, Daiwa Securities Group, the East Japan Railway, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
The Indian government will auction about 30MHz of spectrum the 2100 MHz band for 3G services, and will allow foreign players to participate, among at least 3 firms. India will also auction licenses at 2.5 GHz for WiMAX, with the reserve price fixed at 25 percent of the amount for 3G spectrum.
The European Commission has proposes a single European Telecoms Market for 500 million consumers. A new European Telecom Market Authority would support the Commission and national telecoms regulators would ensure that market rules and consumer regulation are applied consistently and without protectionism in all 27 EU Member States. To become law, the Commission proposals will now need to be approved by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers.
Sprint claims it will cover some 100 million U.S. citizens with their “4G” mobile WiMax service by the end of 2008. This year Sprint has said it expects to provide Mobile WiMAX service in Chicago and Washington D.C. Motorola WiMAX gear will be used in Chicago while Samsung Mobile WiMAX gear will be used in Baltimore/Washington D.C..
.gif)
