Motorola has signed an agreement with long-standing customer Mobilink (an Orascom Telecom Company) to deploy a WiMAX 802.16e-2005 access network for the operator in Pakistan. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Motorola will design, plan, deploy and optimise a WiMAX network for Mobilink, deliver integration and support services as well as indoor and outdoor customer premises equipment (CPE) units to enable faster adoption of the operator’s WiMAX offering, said an official spokesman.

Covering major metropolitan areas such as Lahore and Islamabad, the new Motorola-based 802.16e-2005 WiMAX network will enable Mobilink to extend its current service offering beyond cellular and data offerings to high speed broadband and VoIP services for fixed line residential and business subscribers. 

This is Motorola’s second WiMAX 802.16e network in Pakistan, with the first being a turnkey end-to-end nationwide WiMAX/IMS network awarded in 2006.  This is also Motorola’s fourth commercial WiMAX deployment in the Middle East and Africa region, which further reinforces Motorola’s regional as well as global leadership. 

“Over the last 14 years of our collaboration, Motorola has developed a solid understanding of Mobilink’s business strategy and has effectively supported us in growing our subscriber base to almost 30 million subscribers with reliable and innovative GSM technology solutions,” said CEO, Mobilink, Zouhair Khaliq.

“As we adopt new technologies to meet evolving customer needs, we wanted to work with a trusted wireless broadband solutions provider.  Motorola was a natural choice to support us in designing and deploying our 802.16e WiMAX network in Pakistan to offer our growing customer base next-generation broadband services,” Khaliq added.

The benefits of the WiMAX network to Mobilink’s customer base will include rapid broadband access in geographic areas where broadband coverage was not previously available.  WiMAX is anticipated to offer affordable broadband as well as a convenient end-user solution with unified pre-paid billing.

“This agreement highlights both the long-term viability of this solution and the vibrancy of Pakistan’s communications sector.  We are proud to be building on our long relationship with Mobilink in Pakistan with the deployment of WiMAX, a technology that is set to have a transformative effect for Mobilink and its customers, providing unprecedented wireless broadband speed and accessibility,” said vice-president sales, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility, Ali Amer.

This Mobilink WiMAX agreement is the culmination of 14 years of collaboration between Motorola and Mobilink and builds on Motorola’s regional and global leadership in WiMAX. 

Motorola is involved in more than 55 WiMAX engagements, including 43 active trials, with customers in more than 35 countries around the world and has contracts with 14 of them for commercial WiMAX systems.  – TradeArabia News Service