WiMAX Forum announces Asia lab

The WiMAX Forum announced today, as forum members and other ecosystem participants convened at the WiMAX Summit 2006 in Paris, that the forum has chosen its second certification test lab, which is also the first in Asia dedicated to serving that region, and the first lab location likely to conduct certification tests for Mobile WiMAX gear.

In close collaboration with the Korean government and Spain-based Cetecom Laboratories, the WiMAX Forum named Telecommunications Technology Association's (TTA) IT Testing & Certification Lab in Seoul, Korea, as the first lab in Asia to become available to WiMAX Forum members to certify compatibility and interoperability of WiMAX products, according to a statement from the forum. The TTA is an organization established to develop new standards and provide third-party, independent testing and certification services for a range of standards-based telecommunications and IT products. The TTA's IT Testing & Certification Lab has established relationships with a range of other certification institutions, including CableLabs, BQTF, CCF, CTIA, GCF, PTCRB and VeriTest.

The WiMAX Forum plans to have the TTA Lab operational in the fourth quarter of 2006 to begin receiving Mobile WiMAX equipment and start validating the test procedure. It is expected that by the first quarter of 2007, the first commercial Mobile WiMAX products will achieve the designation of "WiMAX Forum Certified." Currently, the WiMAX Forum's members are in the final stages of defining system profiles of mobile WiMAX equipment.

"There has been great momentum behind Mobile WiMAX, and the selection of this first mobile WiMAX lab represents a key step in achieving commercial testing by the end of this year," added Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum, in the statement. "We applaud the foresight by the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication's commitment to mobile WiMAX as a critical technology that will deliver personal broadband services to consumers."

"We are delighted to have been selected by the WiMAX Forum to serve as the industry's first mobile WiMAX certification and testing laboratory," said Inmyoung Jeong, general manager of TTA IT Testing & Certification Lab, in the statement.

The first round of commercial fixed wireless broadband systems achieved the WiMAX Forum Certified seal last month, after successfully completing extensive certification and interoperability testing at the WiMAX Forum's certification laboratory, Cetecom Spain, located in Malaga, Spain.