Maxis Communications has signed an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent to conduct Malaysia’s first field trial of an 802.16e–2005 WiMAX system before the end of the year. Under the terms of the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its 9100 WiMAX end-to-end radio solution, including base stations, Wireless Access Controller, Operation and Maintenance Centre as well as supply indoor customer premises equipment (CPE), mobile terminals and integration services. Alcatel-Lucent will also provide design, planning and provisioning support to meet Maxis’ trial requirements. The trial follows the completion of the country’s first lab test of 802.16e WiMAX using 2.5GHz spectrum at the Alcatel-Lucent Malaysia Regional Support Centre last month. Deliveries will begin in the ‘next few weeks’.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Malaysia’s first WiMAX licences will now be issued sometime next year, after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) indefinitely postponed its tender for the concessions in July 2006. 17 companies, including Maxis, DiGi Telecommunications, MiTV Corp, REDtone International and NasionCom, have submitted applications for the licences, covering the 2.3GHz-2.4HGz bands.