The WiMAX Forum today announced the first ten Mobile WiMAX products received the WiMAX Forum Certified™ Seal of Approval for the 2.5 GHz profile (titled MP05) at the WiMAX Forum Global Congress in Amsterdam. The WiMAX Forum also revealed its roadmap for 3.5 and 2.3 GHz equipment certification during the show, with plans for equipment in the 3.5 GHz band to achieve certification by the end of 2008.

Following months of rigorous testing to ensure that each product met the strict WiMAX Forum interoperability and conformance standards, the announcement included four base stations and six mobile station modules (also known as terminals) operating in the 2.5 GHz frequency band from eight WiMAX Forum member companies, including Airspan Networks, Alvarion Ltd., Beceem Communications Inc., Intel Corporation, Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd., Sequans Communications and ZyXEL. All of the newly certified 2.5 GHz mobile station modules passed the mandatory MIMO testing protocols.

"With the unwavering support of our members, the WiMAX Forum team has fulfilled our promise to ensure that WiMAX operators have the certified equipment and devices needed to deliver mobile internet services that consumers want," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum, during a news conference in Amsterdam. “With the successful completion of extensive 2.5 GHz testing, we've laid the groundwork to speed up additional profile certifications and ultimately to continue advancing global WiMAX deployments at a record pace.”

Alvarion Ltd., Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd. and Sequans Communications each received the WiMAX Forum Certified Seal of Approval for a 2.5 GHz base station. Airspan Networks, Beceem Communications Inc., Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd., Sequans Communications and ZyXEL each received the WiMAX Forum Certified Seal of Approval for a 2.5 GHz mobile station module.

These 2.5 GHz products were certified at the WiMAX Forum’s lead certification testing laboratory, which is operated by AT4 wireless in Malaga, Spain. Products achieving Mobile WiMAX certification were tested for functionality that supports mobility through rigorous testing including interoperability amongst vendor equipment and MIMO capabilities. This achievement of being designated as WIMAX Forum Certified ensures confidence in the interoperability of WiMAX products for the 305 service providers deploying WiMAX services in 118 countries worldwide.

The WiMAX Forum estimates that more than 100 Mobile WiMAX products will be certified by the end of 2008, and by 2011 more than 1,000 products will undergo Mobile WiMAX certification. The WiMAX Forum plans to stay ahead of the demand for certification with a robust global lab infrastructure, including six WiMAX Forum partner labs that are now open and ready to accept products for certification testing in China, Korea, Spain, U.S., along with two labs in Taiwan, ADT and TTC/CS. The WiMAX Forum plans to open two more certification labs by the end of 2008 in India and Japan and an additional lab in Brazil in 2009 in order to support the anticipated growing demands in those regions.