VTel Georgia’s WiMAX network, which offers services under the brand name MAXIMALI, has netted 2,000 subscribers, up from 300 at the end of December 2008. The company’s network covers four of the country’s main cities; the capital Tbilisi, Batumi, Rustavi and Poti. Sandro Karumidze, commercial director, said: ‘We plan to launch about 63 [base] stations by the end of 2009 and to cover the whole of Tbilisi by the summer. This year MAXIMALI plans to invest USD25-30 million in our network, the same amount as in 2008’.
VTel Georgia acquired two licences to launch commercial WiMAX services in Georgia in September 2007. In January 2008 the company began trialing the service in Batumi, with a commercial launch following in early December 2008.