UTStarcom Signs UMTS TDD Deals
...but where's the coverage? Funny, when Intel sneezes and a sound comes out that rings like WiMAX, every press outlet in IT puts up a story on how WiMAX will rule the world, yet the progress of competing technologies seems to be moving along under the press' noses. UTStarcom, the California-HQed and Chinese manufacturing company, announced their support of the IPWireless UMTS TDD technologies and the 3GPP standard on which they're based. UTStarcom, which is a major global vendor of core telecom components, and the PHS LittleSmart network in China, have announced deals to provide UMTS TDD network kit to the launched UK Broadband network, and also to Optus in Australia for a trial. There has been a lot of confusion in the media over what technology UK Broadband is using, and on whether they would migrate to WiMAX in the future. It seems that they are still buying UMTS TDD gear from UTS, so at least we know what they're doing for now. Meanwhile, in Oz, MSO Optus is launching its first BWA test with a single base station in Sydney in February. It could get interesting since Sydney might be the first city in which competing BWA technologies go head to head: Arraycomm's iBurst vs. standards-based UMTS TDD.
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Filed Under: wimax
