Veraz does its part in Onemax network

Separate from this deployment, last month, Veraz and Alvarion, a provider of WiMAX and wireless broadband solutions, announced plans to deliver an IMS core solution for multimedia services with end-to-end QoS over WiMax networks. They have completed their interoperability testing, and Alvarion is now a certified member of the Veraz Open Solutions Alliance.

Onemax is challenging incumbent wireline and wireless carriers in the Dominican Republic, both of which are struggling with broadband, Chawla said.

“On the local side, telephony services are reasonably good, but the DSL capability is absolutely terrible, slightly better than dial-up, if you can even get it,” Chawla said. “And the data capability of the GPRS EDGE network there is rather restricted.”

The amount of interest from enterprise users for WiMAX data services there is unprecedented, he said. “Onemax is delivering 2 to 3 Mb/s. There is no broadband equivalent on the landline side or wireless. So they have found a nice sweet spot for themselves.”

According to Chawla, Alcatel-Lucent was struggling to get its IMS core products ready in time, and because Veraz was well-known in the Caribbean, it was invited to bid on the business.