Aperto Packetmax selected by Icosnet for Algerian WiMAX network

Details: Category: Wireless Networks; 11 June 2008; 11071 views

Aperto Networks has announced that Icosnet has deployed a WiMAX network using PacketMAX 5000 base stations and PacketMAX 100 subscriber units. There is a strong commercial aspect of the contract, whose customers will initially at least be businesses, banks and energy companies...

Aperto Networks, which builds carrier-grade WiMAX base stations and subscriber units, has announced that Icosnet, one of the leading service providers in Algeria, has deployed a WiMAX network using PacketMAX 5000 base stations and PacketMAX 100 subscriber units. The equipment will be used to provide high-speed wireless data to businesses, banks, and energy companies. The contract will build momentum in the region for both Aperto - which also has recent wins in Egypt, Lebanon and elsewhere - and WiMAX, which now has a footprint of close to 50 networks in the Middle East and Africa.

"This is our first deployment in Algeria and continues the momentum we are building in the Middle East and Africa," said Manish Gupta, Vice-President of Marketing & Alliances for Aperto Networks and a WiMAX Forum Board Member. Icosnet's deployment of PacketMAX began last December in Northern Algeria and is currently being rolled out to other regions and cities.

"Speed of deployment was crucial to our success," said Andrew Kinnear, CEO of Icosnet. "We were upgrading an older wireless network to WiMAX and wanted to avoid having to reapply for spectrum. We had already done extensive testing on PacketMAX and were impressed by its feature set and flexibility."

The PacketMAX family of products "delivers the critical elements required to extend wireless broadband services to a wide range of users - ranging from governments, large enterprises and public-sector organisations to multi-tenant buildings and residences - using a single, standards-based platform. The company's flagship product, the PacketMAX 5000 base station, is also the only carrier-grade base station that can support and operate both the IEEE802.16-2004 and IEEE802.16-2005 WiMAX standards simultaneously, as well as licensed and licence-exempt frequencies."

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