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The Vietnam News

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Vietnam gears up for WiMAX trial

Intel, Vietnam Data Communication (VDC) and USAID are cooperating to run a pilot of WiMAX, broadband wireless technology, in a northern Vietnam province from next month. The eight-month trial in the mountainous province of Lao Cai was part of a drive to bring WiMAX technology to rural areas in Vietnam, VietnamNet reported.

It would link six schools, three healthcare centers, two public centers, two small and medium-sized enterprises and a farmer’s house. The project was expected to enable residents to access information and communication technology services such as voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and internet connection.

The trial follows the Vietnamese government's permission to four local companies, including VDC’s parent company VNPT, to offer a one-year trial for fixed WiMAX technology. The government would consider allowing fixed and mobile by granting licenses for operators next year. For developing nations like Vietnam, with poor fixed communications infrastructure, Wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) can offer a vital link to the digital world. Theoretically it can provide data rates of up to 70 mbps (megabytes per second) over distances of up to 50 km. The maximum range of the widely-used Wi-Fi wireless technology is only 50 m.

Lao Cai is the first province out of five including Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and northern Bac Ninh province selected for the pilot. VietnamNet quoted a top official of the Frequency General Department of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications as saying that the department was ready for allocating spectrum for mobile WiMAX at the 2.3-2.4 GHz frequency. The department also had worked with foreign equipment producers about producing equipment and handsets for Vietnam, said the official, Doan Quang Hoan.

VietnamNet / Thanh Nien - July 5, 2006.