What an auspicious occasion: WiMax Forum delegates were on hand Tuesday at the inaugural launch of KT's WiBro personal broadband service. The ceremony took place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) annual event in Busan, Korea. KT exhibited its new network and services through a series of live (and impressive, participants tell me) demonstrations and events in which its branded Wonder-Media (video service), Wonder-message (SMS, MMS), Wonder-Phone (mobile VoIP) and Wonder-Tour (location-based service) were delivered to PDAs, tablet PCs and laptops. To prove the effectiveness of its mobile technology, KT delivered two-way video, Internet and messaging broadband services to a range of devices located in a traveling shuttle bus so that APEC attendees could experience mobile broadband. They will take this message home with them: Mobile WiMax works, and works well.
For more on KT's WiBro launch:
- see this press release
PLUS: Samsung used the APEC event to unveil the world's first WiBro handsets. Report
ALSO: Intel announced a slew of new investments that build on its global vision of WiMax networks over citywide areas. Article
FINALLY: By 2010, the worldwide WiMax market is forecast to reach $3.5 billion and account for 4 percent of all broadband usage. This growth will be driven by new equipment from a growing list of hardware suppliers and an increasing number of WiMax trials and deployments. Report