It was the week that saw Wimax go large and get TV, while China saw Wi-Fi action, Siemens bailed from the M2M market, and RFID tags became washable.
Wimax saw two significant Asia-Pac rollouts this week, the most eye-catching of which was Tata Communications' plans to roll out Wimax via a contract with Telsima. The network of 3,000 base stations will provide limited coverage for enterprises in 110 cities and full retail coverage in 15 major cities - which would also make it the biggest Wimax rollout in the world to date, Telsima says. Tata reckons it can sign on 200,000 retail customers in 2009.
In Singapore, meanwhile, mobile Wimax operator QMax Communications extended its coverage to the main harbor and coastal areas in southern Singapore as part of the WISEPORT (WIreless-broadband-access at SEaPORT) initiative launched jointly by the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) and Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore. That means wireless connectivity for crew and passengers on ships that are anchored or navigating in the area. POSDATA is supplying the base stations, ASN-gateways, network management software, USB terminals and gateway routers for the project.
In other Wimax news, NextWave launched a mobile multicast and broadcast technology for WiMAX operators this week, and announced Huawei Technologies as its first OEM customer. The technology, MXtv, is similar to NextWave's TDtv solution for UMTS operators in that it touts an efficient way to multicast mobile TV, interactive media and digital audio over Wimax without having to invest in new spectrum or extra radio access network equipment. It's also the latest sign that Wimax vendors want to assure operators that they don't have to settle for a straight broadband access business model.
It was also the week when we all found out that China Telecom was getting aggressive with Wi-Fi. According to Sina Tech, China Telecom has called for a tender to build wireless networks (mostly Wi-Fi) in 21 provinces. The telco has already built public Wi-Fi networks in cities in seven provinces - including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Fujian and Sichuan - installing them in high-traffic locations such as airport lounges and coffee shops. Even though China Telecom could very well get the mobile license it's always wanted when the government finally implements its 3G reshuffle, the telco is already committed to its Wi-Fi plans, if for no other reason that spectrum's far easier to get.
In the M2M sector, Siemens sold off its Wireless Modules business unit to an investment consortium called the 'Joint Operations for Mobile Applications' (JOMA) and consisting of Deutsche Telecom's T-Mobile Venture Fund, as well as two private investment firms. ABI Research senior analyst Sam Lucero called the deal "timely", but cautioned the impact on the M2M unit itself was uncertain, as it would carry on without Siemens' supply-chain and logistic economies of scale and vast distribution reach. On the other hand, it would be more free to pursue a broader set of market applications, though linking up with a trad carrier like T-Mobile wasn't necessarily a plus. If nothing else, though, the deal could further raise the issue of wireless module commoditization and spur further M&A activity in M2M this year, Lucero said.
Potentially having a more interesting impact on M2M is the arrival of sterilizable RFID tags.