First Commercial Mobile WiMAX Network in Germany

The regional telecommunications service provider VSE NET has launched Germany's first commercial WiMAX network at an inauguration ceremony held in Schloss (Castle) Dagstuhl in northern Saarland. For the first time, a broadband live video connection has been established from the lecture hall in the castle, via the VSE NET network, to a WiMAX receiver in the industrial area of Wadern.

"Provisioning of broadband services is currently one of the most important infrastructure priorities for any country. We are enhancing the attractiveness of the commercial location Saarland including the rural areas", said Joachim Rippel, Minister of Commerce and Science of the Saarland, in his opening speech at the WiMAX network inauguration.

VSE NET is implementing the project in close cooperation with Inquam Broadband, a nationwide license holder, and Alcatel-Lucent. During the initial phase of the network roll out VSE NET will offer voice telephony and fast Internet access as well as other data applications for consumers and enterprises in the north of the Saarland starting from January 2008. The VSE NET broadband network - based on the IEEE 802.16e-2005 WiMAX standard - was deployed by Alcatel-Lucent in just four months thanks to the WiMAX radio technology which doesn't require complex underground engineering operations.

"With WiMAX in a mobile version, VSE NET not only puts its money on a technology that is available now, but also on a technology with a secure future. Because the new technology is fully based on IP!" said Alf Henryk Wulf, deputy chairman of the board of the supplier Alcatel-Lucent in Germany.

WiMAX is a standards-based technology that enables the delivery of wireless broadband access, offering an alternative to the wired broadband access provided by cable and DSL. In a typical cell radius deployment of three to ten kilometers, WiMAX Forum Certified systems can be expected to deliver capacity of up to 40 Mbps per channel. A single 3-sector WiMAX base station can connect up to 100 small businesses or over 500 households to the Internet.