Mobile working Toolkit

More WiMax network rollouts in UK

David Meyer ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 09 Jul 2008 13:33 BST

The spread of WiMax networks across the UK is continuing, with two providers announcing extensions of their business-oriented networks in the past week.

On Thursday, On-Communications said it had decided WiMax was the best technology for providing wireless connectivity to business customers. The provider announced it would be rolling out the technology to customers in London, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds and Oxford, and claimed this rollout would make it the biggest WiMax provider in the UK.

Like the company Freedom4 — a spin-off from the former Pipex Wireless — On-Communications is offering fixed WiMax as a cheaper, wireless alternative to symmetrical DSL. The company says all its new base stations will be WiMax-compatible. It will be using Airspan's MicroMax technology for this.

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"For some time now, WiMax has threatened to come of age as a stable technology platform for Fixed Wireless Access to business customers," said Ian Roberts, On-Communications's chief executive, on Thursday. "We are delighted to say that after detailed lab and field evaluations, we feel it is now truly ready for prime-time deployment. WiMax really is 'the intelligent pipe' right into the enterprise, which will be a real boon to UK plc's need for high speed symmetrical internet connectivity."

On 23 July another WiMax provider, OrbitalNet, will also be extending its coverage to businesses in Folkestone, Kent. According to the company, the service will offer businesses symmetrical speeds of up to 45Mbps, although personal user connections are likely to be slightly slower than this.

These services and others like them are based on fixed WiMax technology. Rollouts of the mobile variant of WiMax are dependent on the results of an Ofcom spectrum auction due later this year.