Despite the fact that WiMAX is losing it’s “cool” to 4G LTE, it continues to thrive across Africa and the Middle East.

Alvarion, WiMAX’s most faithful provider with an extensive customer base and over 250 commercial deployments worldwide, has announced that their long term customer, ETI, an internet provider in Africa, will use the 4Motion 802.16e WiMAX gear in order to expand its 2.5 GHz broadband network from the capital city, Conakry, to the entire country of Guinea.

Earlier this month, Alvarion had announced a $2 million contract with the Internet Technologies Group (ITG) of Africa. ITG Namibia replaced an older 802.16d network with Alvarion’s 4Motion equipment in the 2.5 GHz band, providing service for the capital city of Windhoek as well as Oshakati and Namibia’s largest commercial port city, Walvis Bay. ITG Angola will also deploy Alvarion’s 4Motion 802.16e gear in the 3.5 GHz band.

However, these are not the only cities to benefit from this upgrade. Additional cities highlighted in terms of deployment include Luanda, Lobito, Benguela, and Lubango. ITG Zambia plans to release Alvarion’s BreezeCompact solution, TD-LTE advanced software-defined radio platform for 802.16e service. It is to be deployed in the 3.5 GHz band, covering the capital Lusaka as well as Ndola and Kitwe, two of Zambia’s largest cities.

But Africa is not the only place that is experiencing WiMAX fever. WiMAX is spreading throughout the Middle East as well. Just last week, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) offered WiMAX licenses to three operators: Neda Telecom, IO Global, and Arianna Network Services. MCIT hopes that this deal will expand Internet access to 80% of Afghanistan’s population in two years.

Similarly, Yemen’s Public Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) has launched a WiMAX network in hopes that it will cover Sana’a and Aden through 28 tower stations.

Although it may seem like WiMAX is fighting a losing battle with 4G LTE, it can not be denied that WiMAX is gaining strength in Africa and the Middle Eastern regions.

Proxim recently deployed its multi-point solutions for video surveillance along the tracks of the Tenerife Tram.

Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands located off the shore of the Western-African coast in the Atlantic ocean, created this tram service to provide its inhabitants with a cheap and fast way to reach every corner of the island.

Initiated by the local Tenerife Tram management team, the idea of a 24/7 video surveillance network became very tricky when it came to expenditures to overcome technical difficulties. Upon learning the challenges that Tenerife faced, Proxim provided a cost effective, scalable and reliable solution allowing a virtually unlimited amount of CCTV HD cameras, wirelessly connected and placed along the whole length of the tracks.

The tram tracks span over the whole island and the environment did not always help the installation of cameras (tunnels, highways, busy streets and city centers). This video provides an idea of the challenges that were faced and how Proxim’s large portfolio of products could adapt to all situations.

Proxim’s expertise helped create a safer travel environment for Tenerife’s tram users at the tracks but also linked the trains wirelessly to Proxim’s network, centralized at a real-time 24/7 surveillance & monitoring center.

Click here to read Proxim’s press release.

In a bid to remain cutting edge and on par with the world’s most industrialized cities, Nigerian officials have tapped Indian broadband and internet services provider Spectranet to implement their own 4G network. The commercial service was rolled out over the weekend and aims to provide small and medium businesses, corporations, and individuals with reliable and cost-effective broadband service.

“We see tremendous potential in delivering high quality reliable broadband services increasingly as consumers in Nigeria increasingly demand  high quality internet connectivity but at an affordable price,” said Spectranet Executive Director Ezekiel Fatoye. Fatoye also maintained that, if the government only got its act together and marshaled every IT and broadband resource at their disposal, Nigeria could well be a wholly wireless country.

As reported by Nigerian newspaper The Sun News, Spectranet has opted to run its 4G network on Clearwire’s WiMAX due to its ability to easily swell its coverage to encompass other locations. This is good news for WiMAX providers, who can at least rest assured that they are still expanding abroad even if the network is struggling domestically (WiMAX was recently jettisoned by Sprint, its largest client).

Initially, the launch will be confined the former Nigerian capital Lagos, but will eventually broaden in range to include other major cities. But an broadband launch in Lagos, which has a population similar to that of New York City and is rapidly growing, is not to be viewed as any mean feat.

The launch is slated to include provisions for internet access for hospitals and schools as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Today, Tim Cook, Apple’s new CEO, finally made the long-awaited announcement about the new iPhone. Apple fans and iPhone addicts were expecting the iPhone 5 with a new design, 4G technology and great technical improvements. However, much to our disappointment, the iPhone 4S, introduced by Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of worldwide product marketing at Apple, only features the latter.

The new iPhone 4 S features the new A5 chip, a dual core processor & graphics allowing for two times faster CPU and seven times faster graphics.  Apple’s smartphone now has an 8 Mega pixel camera (3264 x 2448 pixels) and a generally improved lens and color caption system, that enables HD videos and great picture quality on the same levels as commercial point and shoot cameras.
One of the main issues that the iPhone 4S had to overcome was the battery life and how those new capabilities would affect it. Phil Schiller bragged about the “fantastic battery life”: eight hours of 3G talk time, 6 hours in 3 G browsing, 8 hours when using WiFi, ten hours of video and 40 hours of music.

In terms of connectivity, the iPhone-4 S now supports both GSM and CDMA networks (the iPhone 4 only supported either one at a time). 4G was never mentioned, neither LTE nor WiMAX considered advanced enough for Apple to implement in their brainchild.

Also presented was “Siri”, the new voice recognition system that allows you to set alarms, check the weather and more by simply talking to your phone in an almost conversational way. Asking “How do I get home?” would prompt the GPS system to guide you home and when inquiring about who Siri is, the answer comes out as “I am a humble personal assistant.”

At the end of the technical presentation of the new iPhone 4-S, commercial information was also delivered. The iPhone 4S will be available in black and white versions with prices depending on the internal memory — 16GB: $199, 32GB for $299, 64GB for $399, while distribution will depend on carrier agreements with Apple. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint will offer the new iPhone 4s on the US market.

This ended the presentation and left all iPhone enthusiasts with more expectations about the arrival of the iPhone 5, supporting 4G.

Emerging markets in Asia are becoming intriguing testing grounds for ways to make the Internet more mobile and accessible. Malaysia has recently introduced the implementation of a next- generation high- speed broadband network that covers a majority of its population. Malaysian conglomerate group YTL Corp. Bhd. has set up a WiMAX wireless broadband network as part of its venture into the mobile Internet market. The company directors have looked to overtake regional mobile phone operators by offering customers much faster Internet speeds. The WiMAX system, started at an approximated cost of $800 million and named Yes, could ensure that Malaysia has a competitive edge over regional rivals such as Thailand and Singapore as it becomes more economically secure and viable. The introduction of a better high speed Internet network and infrastructure will move the country away from a reliance on natural resources for revenue and towards more varied sources of income.

YTL has already managed a substantial number of subscribers to the network (around 300,000) but hopes to increase that number to a million in order to start turning a profit. Though WiMAX has been seen as a quick and relatively easy way to provide almost blanket wireless broadband services, other advances like LTE are gaining traction in Western countries. The analysts at YTL are quick to state that if the LTE standard becomes more widespread, then the company would switch over to it. In any case, YTL’s early success implies that as high tech products and equipment become more ubiquitous and accessible, advances in mobile internet are not limited to the largest markets, but show much more promise of profit in emerging countries. YTL is predicting an increased demand in mobile Internet services as Apple is preparing low cost versions of its iPhone and rivals like Samsung Electronics Co. introducing affordable smartphones. With expectations of profit, YTL is focusing on expanding its signal into the farthest reaches of Malaysia and is planning entry into nearby markets like Indonesia and the Philippines.

Proxim recently announced the completion of a broadband wireless network linking all 11 campuses of the Autonomous University of Chiapas (UNACH), a leading independent university in the southern region of Mexico.

The new network will enhance the academic quality of education by reducing the digital divide among campuses. Students and faculty will now be able to better share resources through system-wide services such as multimedia learning, videoconferencing, access to the Internet, and digital library. The network will also facilitate the Virtual University through distance learning and outreach programs.

The network is supported by Proxim Tsunami series wireless broadband solution, which was chosen from a field of competitors based on its stability, exceeding the University’s requirements.

To read the complete press release, click here.

Augere, a company of global broadband experts, delivering 4G WiMAX broadband services across many emerging markets, is now extending its activities to Central Africa.

Augere’s decision to implement WiMAX in this remote region of the world does not come out of the blue. They have great experience in installing network infrastructures and providing emerging markets and densely populated regions with WiMAX technology. More specifically, they are very strongly installed in Asia, in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in India. Since its creation in 2007, the company believes that by bringing reliable and fast mobile broadband internet access to their markets, they support economic development and create significant opportunities as well as growth factors for businesses.

As of today, Augere is expanding its activities in Central Africa and more precisely Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, under the brand name QuBee. Augere has already started implementing WiMAX in Uganda and has achieved very satisfying results in terms of speed and coverage on their test network. Stimulated by their previous success, Augere will launch a 4G WiMAX network in Kigali, the Rwandan capital town on November 25, 2011. This represents their first step in providing all major urban areas in the country with 4G WiMAX. Finally, Augere has also recently announced that on June 1, 2011, it obtained a spectrum license to offer 4G WiMAX in the neighbor country of Tanzania.

Augere is now working on all three fronts:

• it will soon start offering the network to cellphone service providers in Uganda and make it available on the consumer market
• it will run WiMAX network tests in Kigali, Rwanda to ensure optimal speed and coverage
• and it will start preparing infrastructures for their new 4G network on the recently purchased spectrum in Tanzania

4G WiMAX on the U.S. market is threatened by the overwhelming hegemony of 4G LTE technology. This is starting to become a known fact. However, on a global basis, WiMAX technology is still a strong growing mobile broadband alternative to WiFi and other mobile networks (LTE mostly) to provide high-speed internet to remote areas for a low implementation cost.

Total worldwide sales of WiMAX equipment reached $502.1 million in the first quarter of 2011, announced the WiMAX Forum. This represents an increase of 49 percent from a year earlier (Q1 2010) and a yearly estimate over $2 billion. According to Infonetics Research, the WiMAX equipment market grew by 85 percent compared to last year and is expected to reach $6.9 billion by 2014.
From 2009 to 2010, the number of worldwide WiMAX subscribers rose from 3 million to 7.5 million, it passed the bar of 20 million at the end of Q2 2011 and is on track to meet the 25 million forecast for the end of the year. On a little longer term, exponential growth is expected and the number of subscribers should surpass 100 million by 2015.

Geographically, WiMAX technology growth is the strongest in Asia-Pacific countries and more precisely India. But its markets also extend to Latin-American and African countries with great opportunities to seize. In 2011 alone, over 30 WiMAX networks were either launched or expanded worldwide (Read: Google and Orange Bring WiMAX to African Customers)

Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum explains that “WiMAX technology is continuing to attract operators interested in bringing broadband  internet to customers immediately. Consumers easily recognize the value of 4G services and the entire industry is benefitting through strong subscriber growth and equipment and device sales”.

Mobile phone carriers worldwide will be rolling out 4G smartphones by the end of this summer and BlackBerry lovers on the T-Mobile and AT&T networks will definitely have much to look forward to. Research in Motion has unleashed two smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 to be offered by T-Mobile and the BlackBerry Torch 9810 which has been nabbed by AT&T.

T-Mobile will be selling the 4G Bold for $299.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year data plan. The smartphone will be made available to everyone on August 31. This particular handset is the most expensive of BlackBerry’s mobile releases. It runs on the BlackBerry OS7 which is the best operating system currently available for BlackBerry phones. By early next year, RIM is expected to release phones running on the more advanced QNX platform used by the BlackBerry Playbook tablet.

The BlackBerry Torch 9810 provided by AT&T will be priced at $49.99 with a two-year contract. AT&T has fallen behind rivals Sprint and Verizon when it comes to LTE deployment but they are expected to roll out 4G LTE services later this year and cover about 70 million Americans by the end of 2011. They are also expected to offer a total of 20 4G devices by the end of this year including several other smartphones. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 is the first RIM smartphone to be offered by AT&T and it will certainly not be the last. AT&T is also expected to offer RIM’s BlackBerry Torch 9860 later this year.

Although they seem to be making choice selections about which BlackBerry smartphones to offer on their respective networks, both T-Mobile and AT&T are snatching up devices that expand their involvement with 4G. By catering to BlackBerry fans and loyal customers, both mobile carriers are aiming to provide the best of the best when it comes to 4G service.

At the end of July, a pretty significant agreement was reached between Sprint and LightSquared that would share its network infrastructure with the new network, and that it would essentially be receiving a free LTE network if it agreed to build on top of its existent towers. Further, Clearwire, Sprint’s WiMax partner, has made no further plans for WiMax expansion. Instead, Clearwire has committed to incorporating LTE into its network, and eventually upgrading to LTE-Advanced several years down the road. Essentially, it seems WiMax has been left in the dust.

Broadcom, a wireless chip manufacturer, was asked this week about the WiMax situation and its future. Guess what they answered? Yes, WiMax has been abandoned. Last year, Broadcom acquired a company called Beceem that was a leader in chipsets for 4G WiMAX and LTE. Michael Hurlston, General Manager and Senior Vice President of the Wireless LAN Business Unit at Broadcom said that the Beceem team is more or less done with WiMAX.

“The WiMAX business is getting isolated to certain geographies,” said Hurlston. “It’s doing well in, for example, India, and doing relatively well in Japan, and somewhat in the Eastern Bloc, but in the U.S., I would say that it’s not doing particularly well. The reason for that is that LTE, the new cellular standard, is coming in and offering what WiMAX purports to offer, which is very wide area coverage at high speeds.”

“Sprint was a big proponent of WiMAX when they got involved with Clearwire, but that effort has largely slowed,” Hurlston continued. “So as it pertains to the United States, at least from our perspective, WiMAX is eddying, it doesn’t seem to be making a lot of progress and we’re not confident that ultimately it will be something that’s going to be very interesting, despite us buying a company that was focused on WiMAX. I think that we’re re-tasking that particular chip team to focus on LTE.”