Motorola bags largest WiMAX deal in Taiwan

MotorolaInc. has secured two contracts for WiMAX network infrastructure from Far EasTone Telecom (FET), one of Taiwan's largest 2G/3Gtelecom operators.

With more than 6.4 million subscribers, FET has about 33 percent share of the local wireless mobile market in Taiwan. FET is also a key player in the Taiwanese government's M-Taiwan project, an initiative to create a standards-compliant environment supporting services, education, and entertainment on a national level.

"Underlying the M-Taiwan project is a complete WiMAX ecosystem to create city-wide broadband network in order to roll out integrated mobile services," said Jeffey Gee, executive VP, network technology of FET. "As this is a crucial element of the project, we have turned to Motorola for its expertise to design, supply, and deploy a world-class network that will support a multi-vendor environment while enabling future growth as well."

The WiMAX network deployment is the largest roll out to date in Taiwan and underscores Motorola's leadership in the market. "With our WiMAX technology, FET can provide an even stronger wireless and personal broadband service to its customers," said Simon Leung, president of Motorola Asia Pacific.

Roll-out of FET's WiMAX network will be 2-phased. Phase 1 implementation will commence this October and is expected to be completed by end December . The second phase is expected to be completed in early 2008.