Wifi Revolution

Russian operator Golden Telecom (News - Alert) is reportedly trialing Nortel’s (News - Alert) 4G technology as it prepares launch a mobile WiMAX service in Moscow.

The telecommunications and Internet services provider hopes that it can use the new technology to satiate the growing demand from its private and corporate customers for wireless Internet access and mobile communications services such as VoIP, email and multimedia applications. Moscow - with its population density of more than 9,000 per square kilometer - is ideal for a WiMAX trial. In this setting, a single WiMAX base station could serve hundreds, perhaps even thousands of users simultaneously.

Using Nortel’s 4G technology, Golden Telecom’s trial network will deliver connection speeds between 1 Mbps and 25 Mbps for each user. Golden Telecom reportedly decided to trial the Nortel solution because of Nortel’s advanced MIMO antenna technology, which makes efficient use of available spectrum, while at the same time boosting throughput, thus significantly reducing operating costs and enabling a better user experience.

“Mobile WiMAX is at the forefront of next-generation mobility,” said Sorin Lupu, president Eastern Europe, Nortel, in a press release. “Advanced OFDM-MIMO will be the foundation for all future wireless technologies and - in a short number of years – I’m sure we’ll find that all computers, PDAs and other mobile consumer devices will be wireless-enabled. In the short term, Golden Telecom’s mobile WiMAX trial is a significant step towards providing Moscow's citizens with ‘always on’ communications available when and where they want them, through whatever device.”

Nortel - which has been instrumental in driving standards in IEEE (News - Alert), WiMAX Forum, 3GPP and 3GPP2 - is now considered one of the industry leaders in 4G Mobile Broadband, based on its development of OFDM and MIMO. The company holds key patents for the technology.

Nortel is a member of the WiMAX Forum, an industry-led organization that promotes interoperability and certification of wireless products for delivery of faster, more affordable data, voice and video services to business and consumers.

The company is also a Platinum Sponsor of TMC’s INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo, WEST, which runs October 10-13, 2006, at the Sand Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. Nortel is not only exhibiting at the show, but several of its executives are making presentations in about nine of the show’s informative conference sessions. For more information, visit www.itexpo.com.

For more information about Nortel, visit www.nortel.com.

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Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.

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