Taiwanese WiMAX players demo roaming

Taiwanese Mobile WiMAX operator VMax Telecom teamed up with Korean equipment manufacturer Samsung on Monday to demonstrate what they claim is the industry’s first Mobile WiMAX roaming service.

At the Broadband Taiwan conference, Samsung and VMax demonstrated a Mobile Internet Device called Mondi registered on the Clearwire network in the US, roaming on VMax’s network, as well as interoperability between VMax’s service in northern Taiwan and Tatung’s WiMAX network in southern Taiwan.

VMax plans to provide commercial Mobile WiMAX service this year in Taipei City, Taiwan and will then expand the service to six additional major regions – including Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Keelung, Yilan and Lienchiang.

VMax is a joint venture between Taiwanese players Tecom and Vibo Telecom.

National roaming is a particularly pressing issue in Taiwan where the three WiMAX licensees in the southern part of the island need to form roaming agreements with the three WiMAX licensees in the northern part if the operators are to achieve their stated aim of nationwide coverage.

The WiMAX Forum announced the first WiMAX operator roaming trial between Clearwire and Digital Bridge Communications (DBC), two US Mobile WiMAX operators using 2.5GHz spectrum, in the summer.