Seoul, Korea – November 11, 2009 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading provider of telecommunication systems and mobile phones, today announced that it has won additional mobile WiMAX supply contracts from UQ Communications Inc., the Japan-based Mobile WiMAX service provider. Further expanding its industry presence in Asia, Samsung also announced it has joined the WiMAX Centre of Excellence, which is led by YTL Communications, the Malaysian Mobile WiMAX service provider.
As UQ Communications’ primary Mobile WiMAX equipment vendor, Samsung has already successfully deployed Mobile WiMAX networks in the major metropolitan centers of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. UQ Communications launched commercial Mobile WiMAX service in July 2009. Based on its strong partnership with UQ Communications Inc, Samsung was awarded additional supply contracts for Mobile WiMAX base stations for delivery early next year.
"UQ Communications and Samsung are working together to deploy and optimize Japan’s Mobile WiMAX network so that we can maximize the time-to-market advantage,” said Takashi Tanaka, president of UQ Communications Inc. "By the end of March 2013, more than 93 percent of the population will enjoy high-quality and high-speed mobile broadband service.”
UQ Communications is invested by six independent companies in Japan, including KDDI Corporation, Japan’s second largest mobile service provider, Intel Capital Corporation, East Japan Railway Company, KYOCERA Corporation and others.
UQ Communications Inc obtained its license for mobile WiMAX service from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in December 2007.
Continuing its leadership in the industry, Samsung also announced that it joined the WiMAX Innovation Network in Malaysia, led by YTL Communications. Other global companies in the WiMAX industry such as Clearwire, Cisco, and GCT Semiconductor also participate in the program.
The WiMAX Innovation Network encourages and supports the development of Mobile WiMAX applications and products, and has been created to build a “WiMAX Centre of Excellence” in Kuala Lumpur.
Samsung will take the role of knowledge provider and technical assistant, providing its interoperability test lab in Malaysia for approved developers.
"We expect the WiMAX Innovation Network will be successfully setting-up by well-structured Mobile WiMAX ecosystem with the support of the Malaysian government,” said YTL Communication’s executive chairman and managing director, Tan Sri Dato’ Francis Yeoh.
YTL Communications is preparing to launch commercial Mobile WiMAX services, providing a high-quality, converged mobile 4G network all over the country by late 2010.
For this, Samsung will provide a comprehensive WiMAX network solution including mobile WiMAX base stations, end-to-end IP Multimedia Service (IMS) solutions, and a range of Mobile Internet Devices (MID).
"We’re very pleased that WiMAX has become the next generation of mobile communication technology in Asia,” said Woonsub Kim, executive vice president and head of the Telecommunication Systems Division, Samsung Electronics. “As a leading Mobile WiMAX provider, Samsung plans to further contribute to the expansion and maturity of Mobile WiMAX systems around the globe.”