PCCW launches broadband wireless service in UK using IPWireless Technology
PCCW has launched a UMTS TDD-based wireless broadband network in the UK, leveraging for the first time the 3.4GHz spectrum it acquired last year, PCCW and IPWireless announced today. Under its subsidiary UK Broadband, PCCW, one of Asia’s leading integrated communications companies, is offering the NETVIGATOR high-speed wireless service to residential and business customers living in the Thames Valley west of London at rates starting at only £18 per month.
NETVIGATOR provides this broadband access without the need for a telephone line or cable connection. The service is self-installed in a few minutes, with a plug-and-play IPWireless modem available in high street shops or ordered over the Internet. Because the IPWireless UMTS TDD technology is wireless, subscribers can have a broadband connection in any room in the house. This high-speed broadband “always on” access makes it easy to surf the net, download videos or music, and bank or shop over the Internet.
“The service we are offering with UMTS TDD is truly revolutionary and is going to change people’s lives,” said Mike Butcher, CEO of UK Broadband. “The IPWireless UMTS TDD solution offers unparalleled performance and economics, with a combination of wide-area coverage, high-capacity, and low cost that is unsurpassed for a plug-and-play broadband solution.”
NETVIGATOR is one of the most advanced broadband offerings available. Six areas in the Thames Valley will be the first places in the country to experience the NETVIGATOR service. This service will initially available in Aldershot, Maidenhead, Reading, Slough, Windsor, and Wokingham. Subscribers will have an initial choice of a 512Kbits per second or 1 Megabit per second services.
UK Broadband owns a nationwide UK and Northern Ireland contiguous 3.4GHz license to enable wireless broadband. After completing this launch, UK Broadband will announce its national rollout plans for this new generation service in the UK and Northern Ireland.
UMTS TDD, a global standard that can be used by operators and manufacturers worldwide, has emerged as the leading standard for mobile broadband, with commercial deployments in dozens of countries around the world including Australia, Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, and the United States. The commercially proven Mobile Broadband system includes a complete network infrastructure, pocket-sized wireless desktop modems, and PC cards (PCMCIA) for laptops and PDAs. In addition, major equipment makers are developing a variety of network management and end user devices, including mobile voice over IP handsets and Compact Flash cards, with IPWireless-licensed UMTS TDD chipsets embedded.
“We are pleased that PCCW has selected IPWireless UMTS TDD technology for its first foray into the UK,” said Chris Gilbert, CEO of IPWireless. “Their deployment launches a new era for broadband in the UK. Individuals will get the always-on, high speed benefits of broadband, with the freedom that comes without the limitations of being tethered by wires.”
