WiMAX Forum scores a heavyweight: Vodafone joins

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 09 August 2007 17:58

IT Industry - Strategy

The 'clout' of the WiMAX Forum, the global organisation made up of carriers and equipment manufacturers set up to promote WiMAX has increased significantly with Vodafone becoming a principal member.

"Our membership of the WiMAX Forum will complement our existing memberships of other key industry bodies such as the GSMA, 3GPP and the Next Generation Mobile Network initiative," said Steve Pusey, Vodafone's global chief technology officer. He added: "Vodafone remains technology neutral as far as our future network options are concerned, and joining the WiMAX Forum is a logical step as we seek to evaluate the full capabilities and potential of this technology."

The WiMAX Forum is an industry-led non-profit organization comprising more than 470 companies including 141 operators committed to promoting and certifying interoperable WiMAX products.

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. Last month it announced plans to rollout a fixed WiMAX network in Malta.