Alvarion chosen to deploy Papua New Guinea’s first mobile WiMAX network

Wireless broadband technology provider Alvarion has been chosen to deploy the first mobile WiMAX network in Papua New Guinea for government-run telco Telikom PNG, which plans to provide nationwide coverage using the vendor’s end-to-end mobile WiMAX 4Motion solution in the 2.3GHz frequency band. Alvarion’s local partner for this project is Telrad Networks. Telikom PNG’s first wireless broadband network in the capital city of Port Moresby has been launched in the last few weeks and is expected to provide connectivity to approximately 1,500 users. The second network to be deployed in the city of Lae is planned to go live in the second quarter of 2009. Further expansion is expected at the end of 2009, extending the network to all regional cities as part of a master plan to achieve nationwide coverage for 55,000 end-users. According to Alvarion’s press release Papua New Guinea has a population of almost six million and an internet penetration rate below 2%, and Telikom PNG has seized on WiMAX as a method of cost-effectively expanding data and voice services over a wide area.