ITU Includes WiMAX in Wireless Standards
The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly decided to include WiMAX-derived technology in the framework of the IMT-2000 set of standards. This agreement paves the way for the deployment of a range of voice, data, and multimedia services to both stationary and mobile devices. Significantly, it opens the door to mobile Internet.
The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-07) formally recognized technology derived from IEEE 802.16 by incorporating it as the sixth terrestrial IMT-2000 radio interface. IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications) is a global standard defined by ITU in a set of interdependent ITU Recommendations, which include the specifications for the radio interfaces of advanced wireless communications systems such as 3G mobile. This is the first addition to IMT-2000 since the original 5 were adopted years ago as part of the 3G radio standards being used globally.
“WiMAX technology currently has the potential to reach 2.7 billion people,” said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. “Today’s announcement expands the reach to a significantly larger global population.”
The new technology will facilitate delivery of broadband wireless services at lower cost and include multiple wireless broadband Internet services, including VoIP. The specific terminology of the IEEE 802.16 standard in the ITU-R M.1457 Recommendation is ‘IMT-2000 OFDMA TDD WMAN’.
Source: ITU
