 Dr Chin-nan Hsien, commissioner with the National Communications
Commission (NCC), said the regulator plans to issue spectrum for LTE at
700MHz, but that it will take three years for the NCC to reclaim the
frequencies, which are now being used by the military and police.
It will take a further two years to conclude the LTE licensing
process, and another two years after that before LTE can commercially
begin.
“Wimax will be the only choice in the market for seven years,”
Hsien told delegates at the Wimax Forum conference in Taipei yesterday.
The Taiwan government is a strong supporter of Wimax, which is backed by several local vendors.
Hsien also expects consolidation of the country’s six regional
Wimax operators, which by law cannot merge until after the launch of
services.
Speculation in Taiwan is that Wimax operator Global Mobile is in
talks to buy PHS operator Fitel’s Wimax operation. Talks are believed
to have stalled because Fitel is demanding too high a price.
Meanwhile, FarEasTone Jan Nilsson president told delegates that
while the firm was “very satisfied with what Wimax is offering,” he
urged the vendor community to “create better indoor solutions.”
Nilsson said the lack of a satisfactory in-building solution for Wimax was “the really big problem” for operators.
“We are quite happy with Wimax, but we are waiting for the vendor community to provide better indoor solutions,” Nilsson said.
He that said the “reality at the moment” is that it is more than 50% cheaper to roll out HSPA than Wimax.
“We are not interested in technology. We are interested in
deploying interesting services to subscribers in a cost efficient
manner,” he told delegates.
Wimax operators also require “true multi-mode devices”, incorporating Wi-Fi, Wimax and HSPA, according to Nilsson.
“We can’t do a nationwide [Wimax] rollout until have this in place.”
| 
