KT, LG-Nortel And Nortel Combine Expertise At Mobile Wimax Service Conformance Verification Center

SEOUL, KOREA - KT, Korea’s leading telecommunications service provider, LG-Nortel and Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] have launched a joint collaboration initiative at KT’s Mobile WiMAX Service Conformance Verification Center (SCVC) in Seoul, South Korea. LG-Nortel is a joint venture of LG Electronics and Nortel.


The laboratory provides a venue for customers and other third parties to evaluate the compliance of their products with Mobile WiMAX (IEEE802.16e-2005) standards as well as test applications and equipment from different manufacturers for seamless communications. LG-Nortel and Nortel will supply and install Nortel’s innovative Mobile WiMAX technology at the center, and provide ongoing technical support.

Building on KT’s experience delivering WiBro and Mobile WiMAX technology to the South Korea market, the SCVC will contribute to developing a seamless transition path to facilitate the adoption of global-standard Mobile WiMAX and interoperability with existing and future WiBro equipment. The center will also facilitate KT’s own transition from existing Single Input / Single Output (SISO) to next-generation Multiple Input / Multiple Output (MIMO) antennae, enabling KT to take advantage of the benefits of MIMO technology. These benefits include high bandwidth, improved range, and high mobility at a lower cost.

“Consistent with our ’Life is Wonderful’ motto, KT’s vision is to deliver highly optimized services for maximizing customer satisfaction,” said Chan Kyung Park, vice president, WiBro Technology Department of the WiBro Business Group, KT Corp. “We have considerable experience in using innovative WiBro technology to deliver a richer wireless broadband experience to customers. Collaborating with LG-Nortel and Nortel in this test environment will help further that success by ensuring new Mobile WiMAX technologies integrate smoothly into South Korea’s world-leading WiBro wireless broadband infrastructure.”
“Mobile WiMAX has emerged as one of the world’s leading 4G wireless broadband access technologies and it will play a significant role in the further expansion of cutting-edge information services across South Korea and the rest of the world,” said Peter MacKinnon, chairman, LG-Nortel and general manager, Nortel WiMAX and Wireless Mesh. “The opening of the Mobile WiMAX Service Conformance Verification Center with KT will provide access to advanced Nortel 4G technologies to help members of the expanding wireless broadband ecosystem shape the next generation of wireless information services.”

The SCVC is built around Nortel’s innovative WiMAX technology, delivering an end-to-end solution comprised of Nortel’s WiMAX Base Transceiver Station (BTS) 5000 - the world’s first MIMO-powered solution, Access Service Network (ASN) Gateway, Connectivity Service Network (CSN), and WiMAX PCMCIA cards provided by Nortel’s multi-vendor ecosystem members. Nortel recently announced the WiMAX 4G Ecosystem Center of Excellence in Taiwan which will promote interoperability across WiMAX devices and applications such VoIP, video streaming and IPTV.

Nortel has been involved in the development of OFDM/MIMO for more than eight years, and plays a leading role in the standardization of WiMAX technology. Nortel is a member of the WiMAX Forum and recently joined 32 other companies at WiMAX Forum’s third annual PlugFest to conduct interoperability testing of its MIMO-enabled WiMAX solutions. The WiMAX Forum is an industry organization that promotes the interoperability and certification of wireless products for the delivery of faster, more affordable data, voice and video services.

Nortel is conducting WiMAX trials and completing network deployments around the world, notably with Chunghwa Telecom and the National Taiwan University in Taiwan, Austar in Australia, Quad-Cities Online and MSV in the United States, Wind Telecom in the Dominican Republic, Craig Wireless in Greece, Golden Telecom in Russia, Telefónica Móviles in Mexico and TVA in Brazil, as well as with Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.