VIENNA (WiMAX Day). As the warm weather descends upon Vienna, its residents are prone to enjoy an afternoon idling in one of many the cafés for which Vienna is famous. However, at the offices of WiMAX Telecom, the leading cross-border broadband wireless access (BWA) operator in Europe, most personnel are likely to be drinking their coffee in front of their computers while measuring network performance.

Since early January, WiMAX Telecom has been planning the migration of its network to the IEEE 802.16e “mobile WiMAX” standard, and the arduous process has involved testing equipment from numerous suppliers to ensure the best performance for the varied landscape of its multi-national network. The work is not finished; several months of comparative testing lay ahead until an ultimate decision is made.

“We will build a network that offers personal broadband to every subscriber. It will be launched in 2008 to coincide with the Intel roadmap, when most new notebook computers will be WiMAX-enabled,” said Dov Bar-Gera, founder and CEO of WiMAX Telecom. “By this time next year, we can take our computers and work anywhere we want, and still be connected to broadband Internet.”

WiMAX Telecom expects an extraordinary uptake of wireless Internet access subscriptions next year in the countries where it currently operates. Increased demand for personal broadband will lead WiMAX Telecom to offer “quadruple play” services, as well as IPTV, music/video downloads and streaming or participating in real-time TV shows.

Founded in 2004, WiMAX Telecom is today among the most advanced wireless broadband companies. The company was established by Dov Bar-Gera, a serial entrepreneur, and Werner Kasztler, the previous CEO of Telekom Austria and Ericsson Austria.

WiMAX Telecom is focused primarily on Central and Eastern Europe, a region that benefits considerably from a liberal regulatory environment, with the most attractive broadband growth rates. As of today, WiMAX Telecom has been awarded frequency licenses in Austria, Slovakia and Croatia. Notably the company won the Slovak license in a beauty contest against major players such as T-Mobile, Clearwire and Orange.

Since its initial deployment in October 2005, the company has acquired over 8,000 residential and business customers, which use wireless broadband Internet access as well as the exceptional service developed by WiMAX Telecom – voice over WiMAX with number portability.

WiMAX Telecom also is planning further expansion into other Eastern and Central European countries where the existing fixed telecommunications network infrastructure is antiquated or limited, resulting in visibly lower broadband penetration than in Western Europe or other mature markets. The company has eyed opportunities across its Austrian borders into high-growth markets such as Poland, Romania and Ukraine.

WiMAX Telecom believes in the future-proof WiMAX technology based on the IEEE 802.16 standard. This highly competitive and cost-efficient wireless alternative has the unique ability to serve mature markets such as Austria with advanced voice and data mobility, as well as emerging markets with poor infrastructure with value based fixed/portable internet access and voice services.

By Gerhard Kafka, a freelance journalist for telecommunications working in Egling, near Munich, Germany.