Motorola scores Taiwan's largest WiMAX network contract

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 10/8/2007

Illinois-based mobile phone maker Motorola Inc. announced Sunday that it has secured two contracts for WiMAX network infrastructure from Taiwan's Far EasTone Telecom (FET) as part of the operator's role in the national M-Taiwan project.

In Taiwan, FET controls about a third of the market share of the local wireless mobile market, Motorola said. The M-Taiwan project, an initiative created by the Taiwanese government to create a standards-compliant environment supporting services, education, and entertainment on a national level.

The roll-out of FET's WiMAX network will be 2-phased. Phase 1 implementation will commence this month, and is expected to be completed by end December. The second phase is expected to be completed in early 2008, Motorola said. According to the company, the WiMAX network deployment announced Sunday is the largest roll-out to date in Taiwan.

"Underlying the M-Taiwan project is a complete WiMAX ecosystem to create city-wide broadband network in order to roll out integrated mobile services," Jeffey Gee, executive VP of network technology for FET, said in a statement. "As this is a crucial element of the project, we have turned to Motorola for its expertise to design, supply, and deploy a world-class network that will support a multi-vendor environment while enabling future growth as well."

This is not Motorola's first far-flung WiMAX deployment.  Earlier this year, the company deployed Wateen Telecom's WiMAX network in 17 major cities across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, following through on a deal the company inked in June 2006.