Pyramid sees portents in Vodafone WiMAX ploy

Stuart Corner
Monday, 27 August 2007 10:30

Business IT - Technology

Vodafone has deployed WiMAX technology in Malta. The island (population 400,000) might be one of Vodafone's smallest markets, but Pyramid Research sees the move as highly significant.

Analysts and commentators increasingly see the long term evolution (LTE) of the 3GPP's wideband CDMA 3G cellular technology as on a collision course with the evolution of WiMAX and, according to Pyramid, Vodafone's decision to deploy WiMAX in Malta "must have sent shudders through the LTE vendors."


Pyramid contends that "Just a year ago, for a GSM operator, in particular, to adopt a multi-technology network strategy was unheard of. Many assumed that the GSM operators were inherently committed to LTE. No longer is that the case."

The supplier of the network, Airspan, announced in June that Vodafone Malta had deployed its HiperMAX 80216d 'fixed' WiMAX base stations and CPE to offer bundled mobile, fixed voice, and data services to residential and business customers. Since that announcement was made, Vodafone has joined the lead industry organisation promoting and steering WiMAX development, the WiMAX Forum.

According to Pyramid, "Vodafone, owing to its scale, is an agent of change in the operator community and we expect others to follow its trajectory. With operators present in different markets and looking for new revenue sources, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' technology, but the wrong technology can set an operator back years."

The research firm adds that "in catering to the needs of different markets and customer segments, operator networks will comprise diverse access technologies, each optimised for certain geographies, demographics, and services. For the WiMAX champions this is good news; for LTE backers it is a strong warning that should lead to increased R&D budgets for the next few years—in both camps."

And it claims that "to double the contribution of its new sources of revenue over the next three years, Vodafone is exploring the mobile WiMAX option for its competitive, saturated markets."

Vodafone last year announced a strategy to move beyond cellular into the full range of telecoms services. It is already offering fixed line broadband in Europe and fixed mobile converged services in several countries.