13-Nov-2013
Cape Town, South Africa – AfricaCom – The WiMAX Forum®, the global body that certifies and promotes the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based on IEEE Standard 802.16, yesterday hosted the WiMAX Africa 2013 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. The event was sponsored by Magnaquest, and the reception was sponsored by Samsung.
Over 150 telecom operators, equipment manufacturers, government organizations, solution providers, and media representatives attended the event, which was held the day before the opening of Informa Telecom and Media’s AfricaCom, the largest African telecom exhibition and conference.
The focus of the Operator Summit was to support the African operator community in developing and managing profitable growth of WiMAX and multi-platform network deployments. By highlighting the opportunities, challenges, and strategies involved in operating a profitable WiMAX network in Africa, the event presented an opportunity for all participants – both operators and vendors – to meet, exchange ideas, and develop business and cooperative relationships.
“This year’s Africa Summit was a fantastic networking opportunity and highly educational,” said Semere Tekie, Managing Director of MicroTeck in Botswana. “As the first and only Operator with an active 4G network in our market, we have to ensure we are using leading technology to keep abreast with customer demand. The event was truly engaging, and I came away from it with a much better understanding of best practices for designing and expanding our own network – in a way that will support WiMAX and LTE.”
The African WiMAX community currently faces a host of challenges in procuring devices and in securing funding for network development, in the face of uncertainty regarding the future of WiMAX technology. To help address these issues, the WiMAX Forum introduced WiMAX Advanced, the Forum’s evolution to the WiMAX standard, enabling WiMAX operators to access a broader ecosystem of devices and radio access technologies to more easily operate within a multi radio access network environment.
“This event was constructed to allow operators to network, share key lessons, and work together for the benefit of the wireless industry,” commented Declan Byrne, President of the WiMAX Forum. “Our goal for this event was to give operators concrete knowledge that will help them build profitable WiMAX businesses that will accompany them into the future. Our philosophy of openness supports a vision of harmonization across available technologies that enable operators to adopt multiple radio access technologies, including WiFi, LTE and Satellite operations within their service offerings,” added Byrne.
The Conference included speakers from the following companies who discussed various go-to-market strategies, planning considerations and applications for WiMAX operators:
Mark Altshuller, Chief Technology Officer of Telrad said, “As demand continues to grow, particularly in regions like Africa, it challenges operators to create a sustainable business model to meet the demand. LTE does not yet offer the capabilities needed in these areas. Therefore, WiMAX Advanced represents the perfect hybrid for today’s technology evolution.”
Further information regarding WiMAX Forum events please visit the events page: www.WiMAXForum.org/Page/Events.
For more information on WiMAX technology or to become a member of the WiMAX Forum, please send a message to Membership@wimaxforum.org.
About the WiMAX Forum
The WiMAX Forum is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization that certifies and promotes the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based upon IEEE Standard 802.16. The WiMAX Forum’s primary goal is to accelerate the adoption, deployment and expansion of WiMAX technologies across the globe while facilitating roaming agreements, sharing best practices within our membership and certifying products. WiMAX Forum Certified® products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile services. The WiMAX Forum works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. For more information, visit www.wimaxforum.org.
