Nov 25, 2010

Malaysia Leads the 4G WiMAX Pack in South East Asia

The WiMAX Forum South East Regional Focus held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Kuala Lampur from November 22-25, 2010 was preceded by the Wine, Dine and Demo showcase on November 18, 2010 in New York City. At the WDD event, Intel demonstrated a Slingbox (on the go) using a Toshiba Satellite L635 (Intel Core Processor based) laptop with embedded Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 connected to Clear's Commercial Mobile WiMAX network in Manhattan. Slingbox over 4G allowed the Toshiba to play all 84 of the Comcast digital cable channels paid at a specific home address in the 97124 (Hillsboro, Oregon) zip code. “We essentially took our living room TV into Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom at 311 West 34th St,” said Sanjiv Gupta of Intel.

Now, onto Malaysia. On Friday, November 19, after being rushed to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Kuala Lampur via a slick S-Class Mercedes-Benz limousine, we stumbled on the tremendous glitter of YTL Communications Sdn Bhd’s official launch of "YES Fastest 4G Mobile Internet –with-Voice" service to Malaysians at the glamorous JW Marriott Hotel next door. The Hall was sold-out to a jubilant crowd who seemed to really understand the power of WiMAX and its efficacy for tremendous monetization now and into the future. The Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin led the launch by performing a video over 4G call with Malaysian students in London. YES is set to cover 80 percent of the entire Malaysian population by the end of 2011 from a current coverage rate of 65 percent. With the YTL 4G foray happening in the background, the WiMAX Forum Southeast Asia Regional Focus event was itself officially launched on Monday, November 22 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Intel and Samsung served as Senior Sponsors with P1, Beacon, MIMOS and SIRIM as co-organizers. Agilent Technologies, CEEDTec, CGY, Elite Core, GeoFlex, Huawei, iTopia, MSC, MTSFB, ZTE, MOSTI and SKMM were participating sponsors. The event was initiated to all the dignitaries, sponsors, and participants with a cordial welcome by Mr. Ron Resnick, Chairman & President of the WiMAX Forum. This was followed by an opening speech from The Honorable Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia. Later, the SIRIM WiMAX lab was officially launched as a major test facility (in Kuala Lampur) for certifying devices to be deployed onto any world-wide WiMAX network. The MIMOS WiWi outdoor access point was also launched.

November 23-24 were two days filled with further in-depth keynotes and lectures. A highlight was when the Intel 4G team, in collaboration with Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (P1), demonstrated live applications over the indoor WiMAX network (established by P1 engineers using two single sector ZTE picocells operating at 2.3GHz channel frequency) as well as the outdoor commercial P1 4G network (Kuala Lampur City Center). P1 is Malaysia’s premier WiMAX telco. P1 personnel made it clear to us while we were there that they were revolutionizing 4G (in Malaysia) in terms of their ability to provide 4G internet access at an affordable rate, anytime and anywhere; hassle free to the Malaysian populace. According to StarSpecial, 19 August 2010 issue: “By the end of 2009, the 4G WiMAX network had been deployed to provide 4G broadband coverage in over 25 towns; covering areas in Kuala Lampur, Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Perak, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor, representing over 35 percent of Peninsular Malaysian’s population. Today, it has over 40 percent 4G WiMAX coverage in Malaysia with an admirable 196,000 happy subscribers… P1 is on track to provide high capacity, high speed 4G broadband to 45 percent of Peninsular Malaysia’s population by the end of 2010, and 65 percent of the entire Malaysian population by the end of 2012, further contributing to the national broadband agenda of achieving a 50 percent broadband penetration rate by the end of this year.”

In light of the great advances made by P1, Intel’s 4G team together with P1 deployed two livecasters (two ASUS eePC ion Netbooks each equipped with a Microsoft HD Camera, a P1 4G UH235 Super Wiggy (Broadband on the go) USB adapter for WiMAX connectivity, and a GPS receiver). Two P1 engineers were chosen to walk around the Kuala Lampur City Center each with a backpack containing the aforementioned equipment with a web camera anchored in a sturdy pocket with a front view. In this way they were able to livecast, over the P1 4G network, the beautiful Kuala Lampur cityscape back into a Lenovo W510 w/Intel 6250 WiMAX at the P1/Intel booth inside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The Lenovo laptop was connected via VGA output to a 42” flat panel display showing the livecast streaming from the Kuala Lampur City Center as well as from the P1 headquarters - all viewed with Livecast Command Center perspective.

This location-based livecasting (video + VoIP + GPS) service was touted as a perfect example of how the P1 4G network can be utilized. Livecast allows one to instantly communicate/share data in real-time and is being used
1) by companies who can visibly identify work situations/boost employee efficiency,
2) by media and news organizations who can broadcast major news events as they happen,
3) by first responders who can improve results by instantly assessing emergencies/reducing response times,
4) by 4G operators who can provide subscribers with a reason to rely on their high-speed mobile data accounts to share quality video experiences each day, and
5) by families and friends who can check up on each other.

There were three conference rooms at the Ritz-Carlton turned into exhibition halls – one containing booths from Intel/P1 booth, Acer (WiMAX ready laptops for P1 network), MSI (WiMAX ready laptops for P1 network), SIRIM,ZTE, Greenpacket (array of indoor/outdoor 4G modems and USB dongles), Aptilo Networks, another containing booths from Agilent, MIMOS, ATDI, MOSTI, SKMM/MCMC, Huawei and a third dedicated to Samsung and YTL. In addition to the livecaster demo, Intel/P1 showcased another stunning demo of a Logitech Revue (WiFi) with Google TV (using a 42” Samsung HDTV) connected to the internet using a P1 WiFi/4G hotspot.

A remotely located Lenovo T510 with Intel 6250 WiMAX and Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 were also used for a live video conference with the Google TV over WiMAX. P1/Intel also demonstrated some M2M devices:
1) a MSI U130 Netbook with a Feeney Wireless (http://feeneywireless.com/products/panasonic_toughbooks/) Skyus 4G WiMAX USB Adapter (Intel 6250 WiMAX inside) connected to the indoor P1 4G network,
2) a Yealink VP-2009P IP Media Phone, a Yealink SIP-T28P IP Media Phone, and a Yealink SIP-T20P IP Media Phone all connected to the indoor P1 4G network via a P1 4G DX230 (Broadband For Home) CPE device, and
3) a Yeastar MyPBX IP-PBX for small businesses.

Some further consumer demos included:
1) a Samsung N210 Netbook w/Intel 6250 WiMAX connected to the indoor P1 4G network,
2) a Pegatron Lucid EXOPC Slate tablet w/Intel 6250 WiMAX connected to the indoor P1 4G network, a thin and light Lenovo T410S Thinkpad w/Intel 6250 WiMAX connected to the indoor P1 4G network, a Dell laptop and P1 tablet connected to the P1 WiFi/4G hotspot, another Dell laptop connected with ethernet cable to a P1 4G DX230 CPE device, a Lenovo laptop and a Dell Studio laptop connected to P1 4G network using a P1 Wiggy, a Dell laptop connected using a P1 4G UM230 (Casual Wiggy), and a Dell laptop connected using a P1 4G UH235 (Super Wiggy).By GoingWimax.comFriday, December 3, 2010

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