The WiMAX Forum has launched its Global Roaming Program designed to enable operators and vendors to obtain the information they need to establish WiMAX roaming services. The program includes documents such as technical specifications, a test plan, roaming contract templates and a guide to follow when enacting roaming.
John Dubois, global roaming director with the WiMAX Forum, told FierceBroadbandWireless that roaming will be a critical element for more ubiquitous coverage. "We'll see roaming be more domestic and regionally initially, and that will help operators such as those in Taiwan, where the licenses were given to cover only half of the country. They need roaming to create a continuous service across the country," he said.
The WiMAX Forum is also working with the CDMA Development Group to enable roaming between WiMAX and CDMA as Sprint and Clearwire desire to marry Sprint's 3G CDMA network with Clearwire's WiMAX systems.
In November, Airspan and U.K. operator Freedom4 demonstrated a seamless handoff between WiMAX networks that operate on different spectrum bands. The companies say the accomplishment is significant as users will be able to roam from one operating network to another, such as between a licensed Clearwire 2.5 GHz network and a license-free 3.65 GHz network. Operators will have the option to deploy a mobile WiMAX network using more than one frequency band.
For more:
- check out the WiMAX Forum's web site
Related article:
Airspan, Freedom4 demo WiMAX roaming on different spectrum bands