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Paris and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - October 24, 2007 –
ONEMAX, a new and innovative broadband wireless access provider serving the
Dominican Republic, and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today
announced the launch of the first WiMAX 802.16e-2005 (Rev-e) network in the 3.5
Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum in the world.
ONEMAX is the first service provider in the Dominican Republic to offer
subscribers and visitors wireless high-speed broadband Internet,
multimedia and Voice over IP (VoIP) services. WiMAX is a flexible wireless
technology that enables people to access high-speed, high-quality broadband
wireless services wherever they are, providing truly “universal” wireless
broadband access in fixed, nomadic and mobile environments.
“The launch of ONEMAX is generating a great deal of excitement in the Dominican
Republic, an ideal market for WiMAX technology because of its strong economy
and relatively large and young population of more than 9 million people whose
rapidly growing demand for broadband services needs to be met,” said Raoul
Fontanez, ONEMAX CEO. “We are going to open the door to the new concept
of Mediacom provider: Internet, telephony, and new communication
services. With this concept information technology and entertainment are
fully integrated in our customer’s daily experience. We greatly
appreciate the work performed by Alcatel-Lucent to date. We selected
Alcatel-Lucent as our exclusive partner because they were the first to delivery
WiMAX Rev-e solutions.”
A ceremony later today in Santo Domingo will mark the official launch of
ONEMAX’s new network.
“As the first operator to commercially introduce WiMAX Rev-e services,
ONEMAX is truly a world pioneer and we are gratified to play such an important
role in enabling them to develop the wireless broadband market in the Dominican
Republic,” said Olivier Picard, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the
Europe and South region. “Our WiMAX solution will enable ONEMAX
subscribers and even visitors to enjoy fast, reliable connections to the
Internet in both fixed and nomadic environments, particularly in areas with
little or no DSL coverage.
“The industry-leading deployment in the Dominican Republic is a clear
demonstration of WiMAX's important role in bringing broadband services to more
and more people in fast-growing economies, not only in Latin America but
worldwide. This highlights the maturity of our WiMAX Rev-e solution, the
strength of our Open Customer Premises (CPE) Program and our compelling
end-to-end offer.”
The network deployed in the 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band represents a
significant milestone in the commercial introduction of WiMAX services and
highlights the opportunity that WiMAX represents for operators worldwide.
"As the mobile WiMAX market matures, transitioning from trials to
deployments, Alcatel-Lucent's launch with ONEMAX highlights some key
market realities," notes Peter Jarich, Research Director with Current
Analysis. "In particular, vendors need to be ready to deliver an
end-to-end solution, bringing in multiple device partners and features such as
MIMO and beam forming, all backed by a global services reach."
Alcatel-Lucent’s solution supports a wide range of terminals from various
customer premises equipment (CPE) partners. This is part of
Alcatel-Lucent’s Open CPE Program, which is designed to promote an open device
ecosystem and ensure customers have the widest possible range of interoperable
end-user devices. This allowed ONEMAX to select the appropriate CPE for
delivering mobile, nomadic and fix services ranking from PC MCIA cards up to
advanced indoor residential gateway for end user and enterprise.
Alcatel-Lucent’s WiMAX solution integrates the latest technological
innovations, such as “beam forming”* and MIMO**. Beam forming enables a
service provider to dramatically reduce the number of radio sites needed to
provide coverage – in some instances by as much as 40 percent – while reducing
interferences and ensuring better indoor penetration of the radio signal. MIMO
helps make radio links more robust, nearly doubling the capacity delivered in
dense urban environments.
With more than 70 pilots and deployments across the world and 15 commercial
contracts signed since the beginning of 2007, Alcatel-Lucent is No. 1 in the
worldwide WiMAX market.
About WiMAX:
WiMAX (802.16e-2005) stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access. It enables Voice and Broadband connectivity for fixed, nomadic or
mobile use in urban, suburban and rural areas. For more information about
Alcatel-Lucent WiMAX solutions, please visit www.alcatel-lucent.com/wimax.
* “Beam forming” is an Advanced Antenna Technology (AAT) that ensures that
radio power is concentrated where the WiMAX terminals are, adjusting the beam
automatically as the terminals move around the coverage area.
** “MIMO”(Multiple Input – Multiple Output) is an Advanced Antenna
Technology (AAT) that combines the radio signals transmitted and received on
separate antennas. The technique takes advantage of the multiple paths and
reflections of a radio signal to strengthen radio communications, particularly
in densely populated areas where signals can be degraded by buildings and other
physical obstacles.
About ONEMAX
ONEMAX is a pioneering service provider offering a wide range of wireless voice
and data services including Voice over IP (VoIP) and hight-speed wireless data
connectivity to business and consumers. ONEMAX is the first in the Americas,
and one of the first in the World, to deploy a commercial WiMAX Rev-e network.
For more information about ONEMAX,  www.onemax.com
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