WCA Global Carrier Investment Forum Highlights WiMAX as Mainstream
Intel Capital Vice President and General Manager of WiMAX Programs Sriram Viswanathan provided the keynote address at WCA's Global Carrier Investment Forum on January 16 with an overview of Intel's WiMAX strategy and related investment in key sectors and world markets. Other panels highlighted the evolution of investments in WiMAX and its movement toward the mainstream market globally.. Featured speakers included analysts and financial representatives from such firms as ABI Research, Bear Stearns, Civitium, LLC, Indigo Merchant Capital Group, Morgan Joseph & Co. and Senza Fili Consulting. The carrier and system provider perspectives were represented by Earthlink, Digital Bridge Communications, KeyOn Communications, Redline Communications and TeraGo Networks.

WCA Symposium To Feature Panel On 2007 BWA Forecasts For Global & American Markets
WCA will hold a must-see panel during its Jan. 16 International Carrier Investment Forum featuring leading industry analysts who will provide an in-depth assessment of future BWA trends in both the global and North American markets. Monica Paolini, the founder and president of Senza Fili Consulting – an expert in wireless technologies helping clients worldwide to effectively market their service and evaluate the market size and revenue opportunity of specific services – will present along with top WiMAX equipment vendor Redline Communications’ Vice President of Business Development Kevin Suitor and ABI Research Principal Analyst for Mobile Wireless Philip Solis. The panel, entitled “2007 BWA Forecasts: Global & North American Market,” is also part of the WCA’s thirteenth annual International Symposium & Business Expo from Jan. 16-19 at Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA.

WiMAX Security Gaps Present Revenue Opportunities, ABI Reports
WiMAX has a number of security vulnerabilities that create attractive revenue opportunities for security solutions vendors, according to a new report by ABI Research entitled “WiMAX Security Issues.” ABI Vice President Stan Schatt said, “Early Wi-Fi consumers enjoyed a false sense of security until there were some well-publicized hacking exploits. The WiMAX Forum has emphasized how much more secure WiMAX is than early Wi-Fi. As a result, there may be WiMAX customers who are similarly lulled into a false sense of security.” The flaws, says Schatt, should begin to show themselves once the first big WiMAX rollouts occur. According to the report: Gaps in WiMAX security fall into three categories: user terminals, intrusion detection, and connectivity service networks. User terminals will need encryption acceleration to handle AES processing demands. At the edge of WiMAX networks, access service networks offer the ideal place for vendors to add intrusion detection and protection software and hardware. Connectivity service networks, as part of carrier back offices, will require firewall software or robust firewall appliances, as well as additional RADIUS servers to handle the extra load imposed by roaming clients on WiMAX authentication.

Intel Capital And EarthLink To Lead The WCA Carrier Investment Forum Jan. 16 In San Jose
Intel Capital Vice President Sriram Viswanathan will deliver the keynote on Jan. 16 at the Global Carrier Investment Forum to address the global flow of broadband wireless investments. The Investment Forum is part of the WCA’s 13th Annual International Symposium & Business Expo from Jan. 16-19 in San Jose, CA at the Fairmont Hotel. Earthlink Municipal Wireless President Donald Berryman and Bear Stearns Equity Research Analyst Philip Cusick will lead the opening session with an analysis of the emerging municipal wireless business model and its impact on the U.S. domestic broadband wireless market. The Investment Forum will offer a half-day agenda with a roster of international speakers comprised of investment professionals, venture capitalists and wireless broadband carriers who will assess the investment opportunities surrounding 4G carrier build-out and the accelerated roll-out of WiMAX and other wireless broadband technologies. “As investment in the broadband wireless industry ramps up both domestically and internationally, the WCA Carrier Investment Forum fulfills its promise to provide timely and newsworthy topics offering breakthrough investment strategies,” commented WCA President Andrew Kreig. Details. The Symposium will convene 1,700+ telecom/IT senior executives and regulators from over 40 nations for the world’s premier winter convention for the fast-growing broadband wireless industry. For details, please visit: Agenda and Featured Speakers. To register: Registration. To reserve a hotel room: Hotel & Travel.

Cisco To Discuss Municipal Wireless Business Models On WCA Live! Radio On Dec. 22
An expert from Cisco Systems will discuss the pros and cons of various business models in the fast-growing municipal marketplace during the Friday, Dec. 22 edition week of WCA Live! – the weekly webcast radio series produced by WCA and My Technology Lawyer Radio. This week’s guest for the show being broadcast at 2 p.m. (ET) will be Cisco Senior Manager for Outdoor Wireless Joel Vincent, who is responsible for formalizing and evangelizing Cisco’s Outdoor Wireless position and creating a market vision for Cisco’s leadership in outdoor wireless. The LISTEN LIVE link takes a listener directly to the radio show stream. Listeners can call-in with questions at 866-685-7469, or send emails to radio@MyTechnologyLawyer.com. Archived versions of the show are also available at the listeners’ convenience: Click here for Past Shows. Cisco is providing two speakers for WCA’s Symposium, including a strong half-day program focused on Municipal Wireless on Jan. 19.

Top Sprint Nextel 4G Executive To Provide Insight Into Carrier’s Plans For 2007 & Beyond
A top Sprint Nextel 4G executive will outline the carrier’s WiMAX roadmap for 2007 and beyond during a keynote luncheon address Jan.17 at the WCA’s 13th Annual International Symposium & Business Expo. The Silicon Valley’s premier WiMAX showcase is organized by the Wireless Communications Association International (WCA) from Jan. 16-19 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA. Atish Gude serves as the Senior Vice President of Mobile Broadband Operations in Sprint Nextel’s new 4G Mobile Broadband business unit. Sprint recently selected mobile WiMAX as the technology platform for building its next generation mobile broadband business. Gude was appointed the head of operations to build and run operations. In this role, he is responsible for building the network and operations including sales, marketing, product/service delivery, network and customer management. During his presentation, Gude will discuss Sprint’s mobile wireless broadband vision and its selection of WiMAX technology for the next generation broadband network. Details. For more information on the Symposium, please visit Agenda and Featured Speakers. To reserve a hotel room: Hotel & Travel. To register: Registration.

WCA’s New Global Development Committee Reaches 30 Members, Launches News Daily
Organized last June at WCA 2006, WCA’s Global Development Committee (GDC) this week reached the milestone of 30 member companies from six continents. Each member is a carrier/service provider focused on global spectrum harmonization and roaming for WiMAX or other Fourth Generation networks, with members including a number of the world’s major broadband wireless licensees. The large majority of the most active members are committed to WiMAX technologies. But the Committee includes also companies that have not yet made a technology choice and also advocates of non-WiMAX technologies who share a common focus on the 2.3, 2.5-2.7 and 3.4-3.6 GHz bands. To advance GDC’s mission, WCA today launched an electronic newsletter WiMAX/4G Global Update, whose content will complement WCA’s committee work, conventions, regulatory filings and other international initiatives. Membership in the GDC is open at no extra charge to WCA member carriers with spectrum in the relevant bands, and who demonstrate an interest in carrier-to-carrier cooperation. All WCA member companies are welcome to receive the daily newsletter upon request. Please click here to subscribe. Building on WCA’s track record of cost-effective success on many global issues, GDC is in a unique position to achieve its goals for the benefit of the WiMAX/4G industry worldwide. GDC will hold its next semi-annual meeting Jan. 16 and Jan. 17 at WCA's International Symposium. In addition, GDC each month convenes for member-only conference calls to discuss new developments and work out strategies for its future advocacy efforts. The next call is scheduled for 10 a.m. (Eastern U.S. time) on Monday, Dec. 18. For more information, visit GDC’s website: Global Development Committee