PARIS (WiMAX Day). Many WiMAX operators have traditionally focussed deployment of their networks in geographical areas not covered by fixed broadband. Indeed, many WiMAX licenses require that an operator provide broadband coverage in “unserved” areas.

However, as “mobility” becomes a necessary component of WiMAX, especially in the 3.5 GHz frequencies, and IEEE 802.16e equipment becomes more widely distributed, many WiMAX providers are planning services for urban settings.

In France, one of the most fertile markets for WiMAX in Europe, service providers are beginning to plan for WiMAX as a fully urban wireless broadband solution, often better than presently available services. In an interview with Reuters last week, Jean-Paul Rivière, president of Altitude Telecom, said “the principal market of WiMAX is the cities.”

Rivière was not speaking theoretically. His company also announced a public/private partnership with the French city of Rouen to deploy a city-wide WiMAX network. Through its subsidiary AnyMAX, and in partnership with Vinci Energie, Altitude will utilise the city’s network of street lamps to install WiMAX base stations.

The development of the network will occur in several stages, through the end of 2008, when Altitude estimate the entire city will be covered with WiMAX.

According to a report in Le Monde, the service is intended as a commercial offering, becoming a profit centre for the city. In addition, WiMAX will provide the city with capabilities for remote management of municipal services, including emergency services and video surveillance.

WiMAX in an urban setting is only one of several key growth areas that Rivière noted will drive the WiMAX market in France to € 500 million euros by 2010.
WiMAX will become a “growth accelerator” for mobile operators and Internet ISPs as such companies will eventually bundle WiMAX on an MVNO basis with other services.

According to Rivière, WiMAX will become so completely integrated with all other broadband technologies in the next three years, that few users will notice when a call or data is passed from a WiMAX network to UMTS or WiFi.

The key beneficiaries will be GSM networks that can access WiMAX to speed up their 3G services, as well as MVNO operators. For the later, Rivière said that MVNOs that can provide WiMAX services will be liberated from current restrictions, and allow them to benefit from the cost savings that WiMAX provides on backhaul services, eventually passing cost benefits to customers with lower tariffs.

One of the key enablers of WiMAX as a wireless broadband service is its spectrum use, said Rivière. “Whereas WiFi frequencies are shared and free access, WiMAX offers a frequency reserved to the exclusive use of the holder of the licence, which makes it possible to avoid the risks of jamming and to guarantee to its customers an impeccable service.”