Motorola and Etihad Atheeb Telecom launch WiMAX 802.16e network in Saudi Arabia.

[Alan J Weissberger]

Atheeb customers will enjoy a true convergence of voice, video and data services on their WiMAX personal communication devices. "Atheeb's GO service is designed to offer businesses and consumers an opportunity to experience a nationwide 4G broadband network that offers higher speeds, lower cost and greater connectivity," said Ahmed Abbas Sindi, CEO, Etihad Atheeb Telecom.

http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800575714_499488_NT_8b07c556.HTM

Comment: This announcements shows that WiMAX continues to do well in the Middle East and that Moto remains a very key player in the WiMAX equipment market. What's not clear from the announcement is if the 802.16e network will be used for any mobile applications (vs fixed BWA). Note the term "4G' is used by the CEO of Etihad Atheeb Telecom and that generally implies mobile service as 4G refers to cellular networks.

We also note that Huawei has been quite successful selling 16e equipment in the developing world. As of the first quarter of 2009, Huawei has been awarded 41 commercial WiMAX 802.16e contracts worldwide including Globe in the Philippines, STC in Saudi Arabia, Mobilink and Augere in Pakistan, and Méditel in Morocco. But it seems all those deployments are for fixed/nomadic WiMAX rather than mobile WiMAX.

http://www.wimax-industry.com/ar/26f.htm