Monthly Newsletter

April 2012

INTRODUCTION

Dear WiMAX Forum Members,

This April the WiMAX Forum hosted the latest in its series of Operator Summits, WiMAX South Asia, in Islamabad, Pakistan. The event was a great success, drawing in over 120 attendees. The Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority keynoted the event, and shared his vision for the country's broadband policy in enabling the country's economic and social needs.

According to the PTA, WiMAX operators in Pakistan account for almost 30% of all broadband subscriptions in the country. Still only 7% of households in Pakistan have subscriber to broadband internet, so there is still a huge potential for growth there. The event also featured a roundtable discussion among C-level executives from each of the four Pakistani operators, in which they discussed the needs of Pakistani WiMAX operators and their plans for the future.

WiMAX South Asia would not have been such a success without the support of WiMAX Forum Member Wateen Telecom. We on staff would like to again extend a special thank you to Wateen for helping to organize this event. We would also like to thank our other member companies that participated:

Accton Wireless Broadband	Fanoos Telecom
Airspan	Gemtek
Alepo	NewNet
BanglaLion	wi-tribe

The WiMAX Forum is working hard now on several more upcoming events. We recently announced the WiMAX for Smart Grid Event, which will be held May 23rd, 2012, as an add-on event to UTC Telecom. This half-day event, including lunch and a cocktail reception, will speak to the role WiMAX has to play in the burgeoning Smart Grid industry.To register for this event, please visit our website: WiMAX for Smart Grid 2012 Event

In June, the WiMAX Forum will hold two more Operator Summits, as well as our next Member Conference. WiMAX Asia will be held in Taipei during Computex on June 6 – 7th, and WiMAX North America will be held on June 19th during our Montreal Member Conference. More information on these events will be available soon.

We at the WiMAX Forum wish you a great rest of the month. We hope to see many of you in May at the WiMAX for Smart Grid Event.

Best Regards,

The WiMAX Forum

WORKING GROUP UPDATE

Call for Candidates: Aviation Working Group Officer Elections in June 2012

At the WiMAX Forum Member Conference in Hawaii this March the WiMAX Forum announced the formation of the Aviation Working Group As a part of the initiation process there will be a formal Call for Participation to the members of the WiMAX Forum to join and contribute to this important new Working Group.

The WiMAX Forum Working Groups are the key to the development of WiMAX technology. The WiMAX Forum organizes its technical activities through a number of Working Groups coordinated by a Technical Steering Committee. Working Groups are chartered by the WiMAX Forum to bring together content experts from Members to contribute and harmonize documents and specifications and perform other tasks that the WiMAX Forum has determined to be necessary or useful.

Information about the Aviation Working Group, how to join and office vacancies are provided below, as well as a call for candidates to fill these positions.

Charter:

The Aviation Working Group acts as a focal point for Worldwide Aviation Industry interest in WiMAX as a technology for Aviation Applications on a global basis by defining requirements and technology profiles that drive the network and air interface specifications and certification for WiMAX networks and products to ensure the development of a healthy eco-system of interoperable Aviation centric product solutions.
AWG provides coordinated input from the Aviation Industry to other Working Groups and the WiMAX Forum Board. The Aviation Working Group will provide a coordinated input for the Aviation WiMAX Network Operators and Service Providers to facilitate the definition of a clear business model for CPE, Base Station, Infrastructure equipment and network integrators.
Participation is open to all WiMAX Forum Members. AWG is the single source for coordinated recommendations and requirements that drive WiMAX Specifications utilizing the input and experience from all WiMAX applications for the betterment of the Aviation WiMAX Ecosystem.
AWG provides marketing support to position WiMAX in the Aviation Industry as the premiere technology for Aviation Applications on a global basis and to maximize participation in this market segment.
The AWG will endeavor to coordinate the interest of OEM vendors to develop and provide products and solutions for WiMAX aviation applications.
The formation and activities of this group are reviewed and coordinated by the following organizations:

o Eurocontrol
o EuroCAE
o Federal Aviation Administration
o RTCA

Objectives:

To collect industry requirements for Private and/or Public Enterprise Aviation Network Deployments and coordinate the interest of OEM vendors to develop and provide products and solutions for WiMAX aviation applications.
The Aviation Working Group will provide a coordinated input for the Aviation WiMAX Network Operators and Service Providers to facilitate the definition of a clear business model for CPE, Base Station, Infrastructure equipment and network integrators.
To document and define Best Practices and key Aviation Applications that can be supported by WiMAX technology.
To provide a focus for Aviation Industry involvement in the WiMAX Forum, and to ensure that Aviation interests are represented into other WiMAX working groups.
To provide marketing support for the organization’s positioning of WiMAX for Aviation Industry applications.
To act as a liaison to external groups focused on WiMAX for Aviation Applications.

Jeremy Brewer is acting in the capacity of Interim Chair and Toshirou Suzuki as Interim Vice Chair for the AWG. The following offices are hereby open:

o AWG Chair
o AWG First Vice Chair
o AWG Second Vice Chair
o AWG Secretary

We are issuing a call for candidates to fill these positions. Please keep in mind that each candidate is required to provide a letter of support by his company. The specific deadlines for the election of the AWG open officer positions are as follows:

4 June, 2012: Deadline for providing notice of candidacy, in the form of a nomination by the candidate or by a Member, to the AWG reflector.
11 June, 2012 Deadline for providing optional candidacy materials to the AWG reflector. Such materials may include information regarding the candidate, a statement of candidacy and/or qualifications, and a letter of support from the employer.
Election will take place during the working group face to face meeting the week of 18 June.

For more information please contact Chelsea Nager at chelsea.nager@wimaxforum.org.

MEMBERSHIP SERVICES UPDATE

There are currently 155 members of the WiMAX Forum in good standing. The WiMAX Forum would like to extend a special welcome to the newest members of our organization:

We are committed to delivering the value necessary for our members to get the most of their association with the WiMAX Forum and we are always happy to engage with individual members to discuss how WiMAX Forum can better serve its membership. If you have questions regarding your membership, please contact Mike Wolleben at mike.wolleben@wimaxforum.org - 512-722-6138.

The WiMAX Forum is the best place for our members to access, leverage and influence the growth and development of the WiMAX industry. So be a leader in WiMAX and step up to get involved today!

EVENTS UPDATE

In April, the WiMAX Forum continues to stay busy, and here is the summary of the upcoming events:

WiMAX Smart Grid Event in Orlando, FL co-located with UTC Telecom, May 23.
o For more information and registration please visit: WiMAX for Smart Grid 2012 Event
WiMAX Forum Operator Summit in Taipei, Taiwan, co-located with Computex, June 6-7
WiMAX Forum Member Conference and Operator Summit in Montreal, Canada June 18-21.
o For more information about the WiMAX Forum Member Conference and registration please visit: WiMAX Forum Member Conference
o For more information about the WiMAX Forum Operator Summit and registration please visit: WiMAX North America 2012
4G Latin America in Bogota, Colombia, November 14-15.
o For more information about the event please visit: www.4glatinamerica.com. WiMAX Forum members will receive a special discount of $200 on the registration. Please email Alessandra.Rocha@WiMAXForum.org for the discount code.

If you have any questions regarding the events, please contact WiMAX Forum Event Manager Julia Rueb: Julia.Rueb@wimaxforum.org.

WiMAX FORUM NEWS

WiMAX Forum, in partnership with Multiview, has launched its weekly WiMAX Newsbrief. This weekly summary of news from around the WiMAX ecosystem is intended as a benefit to our members. If you do not yet receive the Newsbrief and wish to do so, please sign up here: http://www.wimaxforum.org/wimax-forum-weekly-newsbriefs.

Below is a summary of the month of April: