Austar picks Nortel for regional WiMAX rollout

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 21 June 2007 08:22

Business IT - Networking

Austar has named Nortel as the preferred vendor for its proposed WiMAX network in regional Australia after what it says were several months of competitive trials."

The decision will be a blow to Navini Networks, long time supplier of pre-WiMAX gear to Unwired which has partnered with Austar to promise a seamless WiMAX service with roaming between urban and regional areas and Austar's initial choice of supplier.

In June 2006 Austar launched its broadband wireless access network in Wagga Wagga, the first of 25 networks in regional Australia it said it planned to open by the end of 2007 (it has announced none since). It used the same pre WiMAX technology as Unwired.

In February 2006 Austar named Navini as its supplier. CEO John Porter said: "Regional Australians will be at the forefront of the worldwide WiMAX revolution as Austar introduces broadband wireless technology to its customers. We are pleased to be working with Navini, whose portable wireless broadband network solution is unique and proven." Navini claimed: "The network will provide non-line of site coverage, easy plug-and-play activation and a seamless upgrade path to 802.16e."

Mobile WiMAX (IEEE802.16e) is one of Nortel's three main technology bets. In the early says of his tenure, CEO Mike Zafirovski repeatedly named three key focus technologies for Nortel going forward: mobile WiMAX, IPTV and the IP multimedia subsystem. He told US magazine CRN earlier in June 2006 that Nortel would invest an additional $US100 million this year in these three technologies, and that it intended to gain at least a 20 percent market share and achieve first or second position in these three markets.

Rob Inshaw, director of Nortel's WiMAX business for Asia Pacific, told iTWire last year that Nortel was focussing specifically on mobile WiMAX (Nortel has a range of fixed WiMAX products, the Nortel WiMAX 1000 range, but it sources these from Airspan Networks).