Dual-listed Telkom, South Africa’s largest broadband provider, announced on Tuesday that it is conducting trials on next-generation WiMAX broadband wireless connectivity.
The trials are part of ongoing efforts to find a solution that is expected to lead to high-speed, broadband wireless access across several kilometres for Telkom customers.
The phone group and Intel recently signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in the trials in a bid to facilitate a wireless alternative for the “last mile” broadband connectivity. “Last mile” refers to the final part of a transmission path to the ultimate user of the service.
The technology is expected to open new market opportunities, said Thami Msimango, the managing executive for Network Infrastructure Provisioning.
Msimango said that WiMAX trials had began in earnest with a small number of trial customers connected to two sites in Pretoria.
As part of the trials, the phone group has installed two Alvarion base stations operating on the IEEE 802.16a standard at the state-held CSIR and the Lukasrand sites in Pretoria.
The phone group has already demonstrated the much-hyped voice over internet protocol (VoIP) communication — which becomes legal on February 1 — and data transmission. VoIP enables operators to relay voice over the internet and it is cheaper to make a phone call using this method than a Telkom line. – I-Net Bridge