Algeria pioneers Arab World WiMAX

WiMAX is now commercially available in Algeria , while several operators in many Arab countries have started testing the service.

The first commercial deployment of WiMAX in the Arab World was in

Algeria

, where Smart Link Communication (SLC) has deployed it to provide broadband wireless services. The frequencies SLC uses for WiMAX are in the 3.5 GHz band and 5.8 GHz band.

SLC's goal is to build a wireless broadband backbone covering the national territory, to develop the metropolitan broadband networks, and to set up an independent new generation telecom infrastructure. On July 25 last year, SLC launched the first national multi-services network, making it possible to develop services based on Broadband Wireless Access (BWA), VoIP, and Virtual Private Network (VPN-IP MPLS).

Algeria 's tough and mountainous terrain makes her an ideal candidate for wireless connectivity solutions. This comes out strongly in a new report "WiMAX in the Arab World: Current status and regulations" released to the Arab Advisors Group's Telecoms Strategic Research Service subscribers on April 13, 2006. The report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for US$ 950. Its 20 pages, including nine detailed exhibits, investigate the availability of WiMAX regulations in 18 Arab countries, the frequencies used, entities that have tested WiMAX or pre-WiMAX services, and vendors for equipment. The report covers: Algeria , Bahrain , Egypt , Iraq , Jordan , Kuwait , Lebanon , Libya , Morocco , Oman , Palestine, Qatar , Saudi Arabia , Sudan , Syria , Tunisia , UAE, and Yemen .

Ms Serene Zawaydeh, a consultant at Arab Advisors Group, makes a constructive comment: "There are still no detailed regulations specific to WiMAX in Arab countries. Some Arab countries, however, have specified the type of licence that needs to be obtained to provide WiMAX service. For example, in Algeria the company should have a VoIP authorisation and the regulator has specified the 3.5 GHz band for WiMAX. In Jordan , the company should have an individual licence to use the frequency (a scarce resource)."

Investment in this report counts towards an annual Strategic Research Service subscription should the latter be taken out within three months of purchasing the report. The investment can also count towards attending Arab Advisors' third annual Media and Telecoms Convergence Conference on June 6-7, 2006.

* The Arab Advisors Group's has already produced close to 555 reports on the Arab World's communications and media markets. Reports can be purchased individually or received through an annual subscription to Arab Advisors Group's Strategic Research Services (Media and Telecom). Arab Advisors Group has also served over 360 global and regional companies by providing research analysis and forecasts of Arab communications markets to these clients.

** WiMAX stands for World Interoperability for Microwave Access. WiMAX/IEEE 802.16 is a global standard-based technology for Broadband Wireless Access. WiMAX vendors state that WiMAX systems can cover a large geographical area (up to 50 km) and can deliver significant bandwidth to end-users at up to 72 Mb/s.

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