SANTO DOMINGO (WiMAX Day). WindTelecom and Tricom are taking WiMAX further into the Dominican Republic mainstream starting this month. That makes three WiMAX players offering services to the public according to Jose Alfredo Rizek, director of telecommunications regulator Indotel. Broadband wireless provider Onemax launched a mobile WiMAX 802.16E network deployed by Alcatel-Lucent on October 25. WindTelecom and Tricom will begin services in December, with total investments among the three estimated at 2.2bn pesos (US$65 million), Rizek said.

Tricom has already been offering WiMAX to the business sector but is now to expand, said Lisa Arzeno, vice president, corporate communications.

Overall, competition is expected to drive down the cost of VoIP calls and data transfer by 20-25% in the short term. Broadband access is up to 23% compared to 8% in 2004, said Indotel.