LONDON (WiMAX Day). In an historic decision, members of the WiMAX Spectrum Owners Alliance (WiSOA) have signed the world’s first WiMAX roaming agreement, and formed a partnership with MACH Sarl and Trustive BV, the world’s leading providers of roaming services.

The agreement and partnership is the crucial first step in what will provide for seamless “GSM-like” roaming amongst WiMAX networks, and roaming partnerships with global WiFi and 3G networks – expediting the rollout of interoperable WiMAX services worldwide.

One of the first companies to sign the agreement was Unwired Group Limited in Australia. According to David Spence, chief executive officer of Unwired, “This is a landmark agreement that will enable WiMAX subscribers to remain connected anywhere in the world.”

Global Roaming Partners
MACH and Trustive will provide turn-key solutions for unified clearance, billing and interconnection, which together will allow WiMAX users to roam to other networks as simply as opening their laptop computer, or other WiMAX-enabled devices.

These services will allow roaming amongst WiMAX networks, as well as interconnection with an aggregated global WiFi network, and hundreds of GSM and 3G networks, creating a global wireless IP clearing and roaming platform.

In preparation for the launch of the services, Trustive and MACH will work with WiSOA and its members, as well as WiMAX equipment vendors, and other network operators to agree a set of technical specifications. WiSOA intends that its initiative should be an “open” process, and welcomes the participation of other network operators and industry stakeholders.

Convergence of WiMAX, WiFi and 3G
The first GSM roaming agreement was signed in 1992 between Telecom Finland (now TeliaSonera) and Vodafone UK, and it was roaming that became one of the main factors behind the global success of GSM. As WiMAX is set to become the most disruptive technology since GSM, early growth of mobile WiMAX will be the result of international roaming.

As WiMAX networks are being rapidly deployed around the world, they will play a key role in the convergence of wireless technologies. “Our goal in this initiative is to ensure that any wireless subscriber could gain broadband access, regardless of where they are,” said Steve Cosser, chairman of WiSOA.

New chipsets, modems, PDAs and mobile handsets are being developed by companies such as Intel, Motorola, Samsung and Nokia that will allow for dual and treble connectivity amongst WiMAX, WiFi and 3G services. The agreement between WiSOA, MACH and Trustive seeks to take advantage of these converging technologies and provide a platform where users of these technologies can benefit from global roaming, irrespective of the technology.