Australian wireless operator Unwired has contracted Canada's DragonWave to install the wireless backhaul for Australia's first Wimax network.
DragonWave will supply Unwired with its Horizon Compact system, which provides indoor modem and outdoor radio functionality. The infrastructure will provide initial backhaul connectivity of up to 200 Mbps. It is the company’s first major contract in Australia.
Unwired announced this month it will help install and operate a Wimax network in Perth for Vividwireless, a fellow subsidiary of parent company Seven Network.
Vividwireless will manage the retail and customer service end, even though Unwired already has experience in this area from its own operations.
The network is scheduled to launch in March next year, offering internet services with maximum speeds of at least 20 Mbps. Seven Network has allocated around A$50 million ($43.8 million) towards the build.
An Unwired spokesperson told telecomasia.net the company will use the Perth rolloutas a sounding board for its future Wimax ambitions.
“We have an intention of building Wimax networks across the totality of our licenses - we have spectrum licenses in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and a few other places. But we don't have a timetable in place,” he said.
Unwired currently operates wireless broadband networks in Sydney and Melbourne based on the pre-Wimax SCDMA technology.
Toronto-listed DragonWave is a wireless IP and backhaul specialist, has posted losses for the past two years but expects to return to the black in the current fiscal year.