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WiMAX Forum(TM) Plans for Second 'Plugfest' in Beijing to Showcase Interoperability Among WiMAX Member Solutions
10/27/2005 8:05:51 AM

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct 27, 2005 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The WiMAX Forum(TM) today announced it will bring the WiMAX equipment development community together again for its second "Plugfest," scheduled to take place from Oct. 30 to Nov. 6, 2005, in Beijing. This interoperability showcase, co-sponsored by Cetecom, ETSI and CATR, represents another step as the industry progresses toward Certification, which will commence for fixed network systems at the end of this year.

"Together, WiMAX member companies continue to collaborate to ensure that these systems will interoperate in real-world environments -- critical steps to achieving Certification," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. "Compared to other wireless standards, the way the WiMAX Forum and its member companies have organized has allowed for accelerated progress and successful achievement of pre-set WiMAX Certification milestones. This Plugfest represents the next achievement."

WiMAX Forum member companies participating in the WiMAX Forum Plugfest include Airspan Networks Inc., Alvarion, Aperto Networks, Axxcelera Broadband Wireless, Huawei Technologies, PicoChip, Proxim Wireless, Redline Communications, SEQUANS Communications, Wavesat Wireless Inc., WiNetworks and ZTE Corporation, along with test equipment vendors Invenova Corporation and Sanjole.

"The WiMAX Forum and supporting companies are making great strides in helping the WiMAX community progress toward the seamless delivery of personal wireless broadband to homes and offices. We would like to continue to support these steps toward Certification," said CATR Vice President Xie Yi.

"We are pleased to have helped establish the WiMAX Forum Certification test lab in Spain and we will continue to help arrange Plugfests in targeted regions, such as this important event in China. This Plugfest will provide very valuable inputs to the WiMAX Forum, the WiMAX vendors and even to our testing and certification labs," said Fernando Hardasmal, deputy general manager at Cetecom.

"This scheduled Plugfest is just another example of how many companies and organizations have continued to successfully work together on the very important aspect of interoperability which ensures that people everywhere will be able to experience wireless broadband," said Philippe Cousin, manager of the ETSI Interoperability Service.

WiMAX Forum Plugfests provide WiMAX equipment suppliers and their technical staffs the opportunity to test and interwork their respective pre- certified products and equipment in advance of final testing.

WiMAX Forum Certification promotes interoperability and mass production, which lowers the price and ensures widespread adoption of WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) equipment. WiMAX Forum Certification testing will continue at Cetecom labs in Spain, and the first WiMAX Forum Certified products -- those that are certified as conformant to the standard and interoperable with other vendors' products -- are expected to be available later this year.

About the WiMAX Forum

The WiMAX Forum is an industry-led, non-profit corporation formed to help promote and certify the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products using the IEEE 802.16 and ETSI HiperMAN wireless MAN specifications. The forum's goal is to accelerate the introduction of these devices into the marketplace. WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) products will be fully interoperable and support Metropolitan Broadband Fixed, Portable and Mobile Applications. For more information about the WiMAX Forum and its activities, please visit http://www.WiMAXForum.org .

WiMAX Forum(TM) and WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) are registered trademarks of the WiMAX Forum.

About CETECOM

Centro de Tecnologia de las Comunicaciones, S.A. (CETECOM) located in the South of Spain, is a global supplier of Testing Solutions for wired and wireless technologies (GSM/GPRS, EDGE; W-CDMA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID, WiMAX, DECT and PSTN). Its services portfolio ranges from conformance, regulatory and interoperability testing services to test systems development, world-wide compliance services, training and consulting. CETECOM is probably the most complete Wireless and Mobile Communications lab in the world. For more information about CETECOM and its activities please visit http://www.cetecom.es .

About ETSI

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute -- ETSI -- based in the south of France, is an independent non-for-profit organization whose mission is to product telecommunications standards for today and for the future. Within Europe, it is responsible for standardization in telecommunication, broadcasting and certain aspects of information technology, and it is officially recognized by the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) as the region's competent body for standardization in these areas.

ETSI unites nearly 700 Members from five continents, and brings together manufacturers, network operators, service providers, administrations, regulators, research bodies and users - providing a forum in which all the key players can contribute. For more information, please visit http://www.ETSI.org .

About CATR

China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) of Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is a national high-tech research institute in the communication industry. It supports China government work on decision-making through providing direct and professional research report and data. CATR also provides open services on products inspection, verification and certification as well as information consultations. The accredited test scope of CATR covers wires, wireless, terminals, (wire/wireless) access, transmission, switching, cable, power supply etc. and doing metrology/calibration business. CATR also plays an important role among standardization organizations worldwide contributing a large number of telecommunication product standards, metrology standards and test specifications. For more information, please visit http://www.cttl.com.cn .

SOURCE WiMAX Forum

Dan Guitteau, [phone], [e-mail], for WiMAX Forum


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