MANILA, Philippines?Technology giant Intel is pushing a global strategy to bring Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) services to the Philippines, a bold move as two of the country?s largest telecommunications companies expand their broadband wireless Internet services.

WiMAX is developed by the WiMAX Forum. It uses the technical standard 802.16. It is provides bandwidth of up to 70 megabits per second (Mbps) and soon up to 300 Mbps.

Current cellular-based HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) Internet services, can deliver only up to 5 Mbps bandwidth to users.

Intel has worked with Globe Telecom in 2005 to test an older version of WiMAX in Cavite, where the Intel manufacturing plant is located, Intel Philippines Country Manager Ricardo Banaag.

Banaag said the experiment focused on providing wireless broadband access to selected employees of the chip manufacturer.

Kevin Lim, Intel WiMAX Managing Director for Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, said the broadband demand has been increasing exponentially every year and that the Philippines is showing growth in the mobile sector.

He also cited a 2008 study by the Miniwatts Marketing Group that showed that the Philippines is ranked 10th in the overall top ten Internet-ready countries in Asia.

"While there are only 14 million Internet users in the country, it has 63 million mobile phone users. Some of the demand for wireless Internet is actually coming from the mobile space. Obviously there's pent up demand for wireless broadband," Lim said.

The deployment of WiMAX in the Philippines would largely be a business rather than a technology decision, Lim said.

Massive and costly deployment would not be necessary and telecommunications companies would only need to enhance broadband services in specific areas, he added.

He said underserved areas with few or no broadband deployments would largely benefit from WiMAX.

Lim dispelled notions that WiMAX would compete with existing broadband access services, cellular telecommunications, as well as wireless fidelity (WiFi) services.

WiMAX can offer greater flexibility but it is largely for data transmission. 3G cellular networks can do both data and voice. The only limitation will be on the bandwidth allocation for both data and voice in 3G, which can affect both services.

"This is where WiMAX can come in so that it can provide the needed bandwidth for data," Lim said.

In addition, 3G can be used on a geographically wider area allowing for voice communications anywhere. WiMAX would be deployed as a wide area network service.

He added that WiMAX would also not compete with WiFi. WiMAX could be the backhaul platform to deliver connectivity to one area while WiFi would be the last mile service to the consumer.

Lim showcased some of the components Intel is building, which would be integrated into future devices, including PCs, notebook computers and even mobile devices.

Intel is now promoting its WiMAX modules to hardware manufacturers, just as it did when it pushed its WiFi components to manufacturers.
Globe Telecoms, which has experience in WiMAX deployment through a joint trial project with Intel in Cavite, has announced the commercial deployment of WiMAX service in the country.

Meanwhile, Smart Communications Public Affairs Head Ramon Isberto told INQUIRER.NET the company is already planning trials of WiMAX, although he did not disclose its timetable.

Lim said that the country's telecommunications providers could create new markets with WiMAX. He suggested that WiMAX can be offered on a prepaid basis.

"It all depends on how the telecommunications company wants to position its services. But for sure, WiMAX will become necessary in the future," Lim said.