Samsung stresses need to seed WiMax market with devices early

New York is the only market in which Samsung doesn't have any substantial WiMax installations, Chung said. The problem hasn't been timing or funding but rather New York's building codes. "New York has some very peculiar design requirements," Chung said. "Your equipment has to be built inside of a special box to meet their guidelines." Samsung, however, is in the process of optimizing its equipment for New York's unique specifications and will be deploying equipment soon in the country's largest and most difficult to cover market, Chung said.

EXPLORING FUTURE DEVICES

While Samsung hasn't announced any plans for future mobile data devices like the Mondi, Chung said it is actively working on dual-mode modems for Clearwire's investment and virtual operator partners. The first of these will be a WiMax/CDMA EV-DO dongle designed to support Sprint's launch of 4G services. Sprint is the largest stakeholder in Clearwire and plans to use WiMax as its 4G mobile broadband network through a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) relationship with Clearwire.

In a recent interview, Sprint vice president of 4G Todd Rowley said the carrier isn't just targeting 4G as a fast mobile data technology. Sprint also would use WiMax to deliver residential broadband services and possibly even VoIP. Rowley said Sprint was also weighing the possibility of using WiMax as a backhaul technology for a 2G or 3G femtocell, allowing Sprint to substantially expand its PCS coverage.

That presents Samsung with an opportunity to make not just dual-mode laptop dongles but residential broadband gateways and even a WiMax-embedded version of the Airave CDMA femtocell it currently supplies to Sprint.

Chung isn't ruling out dual-mode UMTS-WiMax devices. Samsung has already designed GSM/high-speed packet access (HSPA) handsets for the Korean market, and they could be carried over to the 2.5 GHz WiMax bands in the US. Clearwire has other investors besides Sprint, Chung said. A Comcast or a Time Warner could sign a separate MVNO deal with T-Mobile or AT&T, allowing them to provide a combination 3G-4G service to their customers.

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