Motorola eyes Neotel WiMax network

Motorola Southern Africa is hopeful of bagging the contract to build WiMax and CDMA networks for SA's second national operator, Neotel.

The company is completing radio frequency (RF) planning for Neotel's proposed WiMax network, while radio frequency planning for the CDMA network has already been completed, says Motorola regional sales director Stefano Mattiello.

While it is unclear when Neotel is likely to award the infrastructure contract, Mattiello believes this would have to be "imminent", should the operator wish to meet its deadlines. "When this contract is awarded is entirely up to Neotel, but they will have to start making decisions soon."

The RF deal is the first contract between Motorola and Neotel. Mattiello would not disclose the value of this project, which started in December, saying only that it is "not that big".

The infrastructure roll-out would be a far bigger project, and would be Motorola's first WiMax deployment in SA, says Mattiello.

Motorola feels it is in a strong position to secure the network contract, as it is about to launch 802.16E WiMax technology in SA. This, Mattiello explains, is expected to become an industry standard within a few years, replacing the current 802.16D standard.

The new standard, he says, has various advantages over the current technology, including full mobility and spectrum efficiency. The 802.16D standard is fixed mobile technology, which cannot be upgraded to the new standard. "It's a completely different standard."

Currently, all WiMax test networks in SA, as well as the WiMax networks deployed in other African countries, are 802.16D technology.

"This means that, in a few years, there will have to be a migration to the new standard, which means a full network redeployment."

Hence Motorola's decision to enter the WiMax arena with the 802.16E standard, says Mattiello. "It's a strategic decision," he comments, adding that it would make the most sense for Neotel to embrace the new standard for its network.

To date, Motorola has announced four WiMax contract wins and is participating in 22 WiMax trials globally.

Neotel could not be reached for comment this morning.

The operator said previously that it would require R11 billion over the next 10 years, of which R8.5 billion will be spent in the first five years. Over 40% of the R11 billion will go into access infrastructure, it said.