> Opinion Paper

WiMAX
Window of Opportunity

2010 / 01

www.detecon.com
 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

Table of Contents
1 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 2
2 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 3
3 Broadband Stimulus ............................................................................................ 4
4 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 10
5 The Author......................................................................................................... 12
6 References ........................................................................................................ 12
7 Glossary ............................................................................................................ 13
8 Annex ................................................................................................................ 14
9 The Company .................................................................................................... 15

Opinion Paper 1 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

1 Abstract

WiMAX was the first technology to come to market as a candidate for the fourth generation
(4G) transmission standard, after 3G lagged behind expectations in terms of performance
and capacity. Its appearance created great excitement in the industry. WiMAX was seen
both as complementary broadband to expand the tier-1 operators’ network capacity and as
having the potential to be used for disruptive business models compared to the established
3GPP technologies. After four years the reality is different than the forecasted scenarios.
WiMAX has not established itself globally with the scale and impact so many had predicted.
After all the hype and discussions about WiMAX vs LTE, the time is now to look for ways to
grow a larger ecosystem for WiMAX and reach economies of scale. Without this, WiMAX
might be seen as a failed bet and establish itself indefinitely as a niche technology. Only
robust business models, based on the capabilities of the technology and on market realities
can overcome this and bring back some of the momentum seen before the end of 2007.

The stimulus package in the US, approved in February of 2009, includes funding for
broadband access in rural and underserved regions of the US. Similar “broadband-for-all”
programs are in place around the globe as a means to boost development in the current
economic downturn.

Amongst the many broadband technologies available, how is WiMAX positioned to benefit
from these broadband incentives? Will this be the stimulus WiMAX needs to recover and
reach the forecasted subscriber numbers for the next years? Of the available technologies,
WiMAX is a viable option in terms of performance versus costs. So the world-wide stimulus
packages can create a window of opportunity to regain some competitive advantage and
interest from investors.

Opinion Paper 2 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

2 Introduction

In 2005 there was great excitement in the Telco market about the first technology
demonstrating 4G potential: WiMAX. Except for Ericsson, who opted for defending its
majority share in the 3G market by keeping out of WiMAX, all other major vendors jumped
on the WiMAX bandwagon. They looked to position themselves as the leading vendor by
investing strongly in WiMAX and by announcing the revolutionary performance of their
solutions. Intel was and still is the main defender of WiMAX, promoting its capabilities and
investing in operators worldwide that place their bet in WiMAX technology.

Between 2005 and 2007 and thanks to the flooding of the telecoms-related media and the
hyped sales approach by the vendors, the expectations related to WiMAX’s performance
were rising by the day. Sounds familiar? A similar phenomenon was seen in the late 90s with
the 3G hype, which had serious impacts on the budgets of both operators and vendors.
These have only in recent years finally begun to reach a positive return on investment (ROI),
leveraged by the growing thirst for mobile broadband resulting from the appearance of the i-
phone and of 3G USB portable dongles.

This hype vs reality contrast was the main reason why major operators declined to invest in
WiMAX. The main operators were just starting to capitalize on their huge 3G investments,
namely the costs of buying spectrum in the auctions and the investments in equipment.
Although interested in expanding their network capacity, they were more cautious, due to the
lessons learned from 3G. During those years there has been extensive debate on whether
operators could afford to wait for LTE or if they should invest in WiMAX which was already
available. The problem was that WiMAX promised more in 2005 than it could deliver then
and even more than it still can today. Currently, more realistic approaches are in place, since
several networks have demonstrated how WiMAX works.

Other important reasons for the general non-adoption are related to the lack of suitable
devices. In 2005 it was announced that in 2008 the market would offer WiMAX-capable
PDAs and laptops. For PDAs there are only two models in the market, offered by Samsung
and HTC, while Nokia pulled out a few months after having announced its N810 tablet.
Laptops have become available only in mid-2009. The economic downturn dealt another
hard blow to the adoption of WiMAX with investors losing their access to credit and looking
to minimize their risks by not investing in a new technology such as WiMAX.

WiMAX is running or in the process of being deployed in 145 countries, but almost
exclusively in small networks. The WiMAX Forum [1] estimates close to 5 million WiMAX
users worldwide in 2009, a number which is a quarter of what was forecasted in 2007, which
raises questions about current forecasts , e.g., 140 million in 2012.

Some analysts have proclaimed WiMAX’s death, since it did not fully utilize its time-to-
market advantage over LTE. This advantage is getting smaller by the day and many
operators have already committed to deploy LTE, which also contributed to several vendors
pulling out of WiMAX. But WiMAX is not dead, although it is increasingly seen as a niche
technology. Sprint/Clearwire together with Intel, still advocate WiMAX’s success, but the
reality is that WiMAX needs new impulses to create a larger ecosystem. This could be
achieved with its use for vertical market services or with creating robust business cases that
qualify it as a main receiver of broadband stimulus money for rural, underserved or unserved
areas.

Opinion Paper 3 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

These incentives are being made available from governments worldwide as a means to
allow broadband access for its citizens and to stimulate their lagging economies. Can this
create a new window of opportunity for WiMAX, after the loss of momentum seen in the past
1.5 years?

3 Broadband Stimulus

There is a broad consensus that technological investments are part of the solution to
overcome the current financial crisis. In regions lacking broadband access infrastructure,
such as less populated rural areas, the investment in telecom infrastructure brings
broadband access to the local population, but is also expected to boost the development of
those regions, creating new jobs and increasing the productivity of local businesses. Several
governments worldwide have announced measures to boost investment in different
technological areas, from renewable energies to “broadband for all” programs.

This was particularly visible during the US elections of 2008. While still a candidate for the
US presidency, Barack Obama announced measures to breathe new life into the economy,
emphasizing the role that technology would have in that plan. This plan is being put into
practice with the well-known US Stimulus Package. It is a multibillion dollar incentive
package which will be injected into the US economy to be applied in different areas and
distributed in several phases. “Our firms know that technology investments are the quickest
way to dramatically turn the economy around” said Barack Obama in February 2009, when
he signed the $787bn (€525bn) stimulus package into law. Its official name is of American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

From this stimulus package, $7.2bn (€4.8bn) has been assigned for broadband investments,
particularly to deliver broadband to rural and unserved / underserved regions in the US. The
amount was widely criticized, even by Democrats in the US Congress, because they had
expected the allocation for broadband to be substantially larger. Several analysts had
estimated the costs for “wiring the country” with fiber to be between $15bn (€10bn) and
$30bn (€20bn).

The money for broadband aid will be distributed by two agencies, the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service
from the US department of Agriculture (RUS), in three different rounds [2]. Each round has
an application submission period, followed by an evaluation of the candidates and finally the
appropriation of money.

The Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) states that in the first round of funding the RUS will
award up to $2.4bn (€1.6bn) and the NTIA will award up to $1.6bn (€1.06bn). The second
round started at the end of 2009, and the third round will start in the spring of 2010, as
required by the Recovery Act. All the money must be distributed before the end of 2010, the
deadline being September 30th, 2010.

Opinion Paper 4 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

There are two programs (one per agency) for distributing the funds:

Broadband Technologies Opportunities

Broadband Initiative Program (BIP)
Program (BTOP)

BIP Program Funding BIP Program Funding

Broadband Infrastructure Broadband Public Computer

Infrastructure Centers

Q funding for project to

Full Grants Loans & Loan/Grants
expand computer center
Unserved Area capacity at entities
($50 million)
Remote Area Underserved Area
Underserved
Area Sustainable
Rural Area Broadband
Adoption
Last Mile
Unserved Area Q funding for innovative
projects that promote
Middle e.g. broadband, demand,
Mile education, awareness,
training, ($150 million)

Established by the RUS in order to extend loans, grant or loan / grant
combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural area. BIP
program focuses the funds towards broadband infrastructure projects,
with particular emphasis on the remote and rural area.
Established by the NTIA in order to award grants for deploying
broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, enhance
broadband capacity in public computer centers and promote sustainable
broadband adoption. The main focus on the BTOP program is last/middle
mile broadband infrastructure in underserved and underserved area.

Figure 1: BIP and BTOP programs

The definitions of the areas according to the BIP/BTOP programs can be found in Annex I.
The total funding is split between the two programs is as follows:

BIP $2.5 bn
BTOP $4.7 bn

34,7%

65,3%

Figure 2: Distribution of funding per program

Opinion Paper 5 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

The stimulus does not specify which technologies should be used in delivering broadband to
unserved and underserved areas. Broadband technologies constitute an extensive portfolio,
but in the particular case of rural broadband, the main applicants have been WiMAX and
Fiber.

20%
Terrestrial fixed or mobile wireless
Fiber
xDSL
5% Other
Coaxial Cable
5%
Hybrid fiber/coax
61%
4% Satellite
2% 2% Broadband Over Power Lines
1%

Figure 3: Distribution of applications per technology

Currently the number of applications for the first round is worth seven times the amount of
money to be distributed in round one. A quick look at the numbers shows the difference in
the initial CAPEX between fiber and WiMAX. With close to half the number of applications
when compared with WiMAX, fiber accounts for more than double the amount of funding
requests:

$bn Applications
4,0 3,7 350 WiMAX
307,0
3,5 300 Fiber
3,0
250
2,5
181,0 200
2,0
1,6 150
1,5
100
1,0
0,5 50
0,0 0
Total Funding Requests Total Applicants

Figure 4: WiMAX vs Fiber – Total Funding Requests and Total Applications

Opinion Paper 6 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

The stimulus money is obviously welcomed by operators and ISPs. The application process
is complex and requires putting together a solid business case. As in any investment,
positive ROI and specified, realistic net present value (NPV) targets are sine qua non
conditions. This analysis will be done by the NTIA and RUS and for now it is not possible to
determine the outcome. The choice will be based on the specific benefits of each technology
applied to the specific service it should provide. Some technologies seem to be better
positioned than others and expectations are high.

Fiber has higher bandwidth, but this benefit versus its costs needs to be assessed,
considering the high CAPEX costs for fiber deployment. Broadband wireless access
technologies (BWA) allow quick deployment, even in areas with difficult access, where
deployment costs for wired solutions can be prohibitive. They also bring the portability /
mobility benefit, but this will only represent an advantage for certain services. Out of the
available BWA technologies capable to provide high-performance and cost-effective
broadband, WiMAX positions itself as the probable main beneficiary of broadband stimulus
funding.

WiMAX uses the latest advanced radio techniques such as SOFDMA, beamforming and
MIMO. These techniques, which are only a part of the WiMAX features portfolio, and
especially when used in combination, provide a substantial increase in the quality of the
signal resulting in an increased coverage. This enables modulations that lead to an
increased cell capacity and higher throughputs per user. Due to this, the number of
broadcasting sites can be minimized. Together with an all-IP architecture this significantly
reduces both CAPEX and OPEX of the network when compared with 3G. WiMAX offers
scalability, thus allowing for an optimal bandwidth utilization.

LTE is a 3GPP based technology for the fourth generation of mobile communications (4G)
and has gathered global support from vendors and tier-1 operators. WiMAX and LTE share
much of the “technological genes”, but have since the early stages been addressed as
opposing technologies in the run for the 4G ecosystem. Much was debated in the past
couple of years about this “combat of technologies”. After the public support to LTE from the
most important mobile global operators, such as T-Mobile, Vodafone and Verizon Wireless,
the emphasis has rightly shifted to the real paradigm which is the coexistence and even
convergence of the two technologies in the near future. LTE will be the choice for most of
mobile operators when it becomes available, but WiMAX is available now and has
established its place in the BWA ecosystem.

WiMAX could have leveraged its time-to-market advantage against LTE providing portable
and mobile broadband wireless access on a larger scale than it actually has until Q3 2009.
Still, and using different business models around the world, WiMAX has now over 500
deployments in 145 countries in fixed, portable/mobile and proprietary versions [1][3].

Since the stimulus money must be fully distributed by September 2010, and because the
applications should be submitted before that date for all phases, LTE seems to lack the time-
to-market to benefit from these funds. If stimulus money is used for WiMAX deployments,
that can also work as an incentive for investors who might otherwise be hesitant to bet on
WiMAX-related businesses.

Opinion Paper 7 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

WiMAX SWOT Analysis

Q BWA technology available today
Q Quick deployment and Plug and Play access for users
Strengths
Q User devices’ prices still need to be lower for generalized
adoption
Q Laptops with integrated WiMAX capabilities just coming to the

Q High-speed internet access with high capacity and high

Threats
market
spectral efficiency
Q Delay on the auctions for licensed spectrum
Q All-IP technology
Q Advantage in time-to-market to LTE being reduced.
Q Advanced radio techniques such as beamforming and MIMO
increasing coverage and capacity and reducing CAPEX

Q Portable broadband in rural and underserved areas with Q Capabilities were hyped vs. reality
reduced CAPEX/OPEX
Q High carrier frequencies
Opportunities

Weaknesses
Q Vertical Markets applications
Q Lost momentum with economic downturn
Q Mobility/portability broadband services for fixed operators
Q Some manufacturers have cut R&D expenses on WiMAX
Q Roadmap to new release 2.0 with minimum migration costs
Q Main mobile operators committing to 3GGP Long Term
Q Suited for privately owned networks using unlicensed Evolution
spectrum
Q Needs a larger ecosystem and creating economies of scale
Q Spectrum is available globally

Figure 5: WiMAX SWOT Analysis

In BWA technologies a key point is spectrum availability. WiMAX on its fixed version can
work on unlicensed spectrum such as 5.8GHz, which can lower costs and can be a solution
for some deployments. This is the only way some operators such as Freedom4 in the UK
have created a sustainable business model providing broadband to business customers in
the London metropolitan area. A mobile WiMAX version based on IEEE 802.16e-2005 is
available for licensed spectrum bands at 2.3 GHz, 2.5GHz and 3.5 GHz and is not
backwards compatible with the fixed version of WiMAX IEEE 802.16d-2004. Still, it offers
multiple advantages when compared with the fixed version of WiMAX based on the IEEE
802.16d standard, even if used only for fixed applications. It offers the possibility of portable
and mobile access with specific functions such as handover and power management not
available in the fixed version. Mobile WiMAX is available in laptops for portable/mobile
broadband utilization. It gives higher performance than the fixed version with latest
generation radio features and good quality of service (QoS) management. Also, WiMAX Rel
2.0 expected in the end of 2010 and based on IEEE 802.16m standard, will be fully
backwards compatible with the current mobile WiMAX release. This gives signals to the
market about protecting investments made and it provides a clear roadmap definition and
migration path.

Due to the mentioned advantages of mobile WiMAX the choice over the fixed version seems
obvious, but one should be careful in that assumption. The monetary incentive from the
stimulus package might not be enough to turn it into a profitable and sustainable business, if
licensed spectrum is sold at high prices. Regulatory decisions will have a decisive impact on
the success or failure of wireless technologies in the rural broadband initiative.

What is happening in other regions of the Globe? The numbers are overwhelming: from the
6bn people in the world, more than half are mobile phone users. The numbers are not as
impressive for broadband: Only a total estimated 400 million users have internet access
through broadband globally. The US stimulus package is the most publicly known incentive
program, but Europe also has the same orientation to invest in broadband technology as a
vehicle for economic development. The European commission has assigned €1bn for
investment in broadband as part of the European Economic Recovery Plan with the
ambitious and probably unrealistic objective of getting 100% broadband internet coverage for
all EU citizens by 2010 [4].

Opinion Paper 8 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

In the European Union an average of 93% of the population has access to broadband.
WiMAX utilization in Europe is rare, and it is available through the 3.5GHz spectrum for the
mobile version and 5.8GHz for the fixed version, using unlicensed band, except in parts of
Scandinavia, where there is some 2.5GHz spectrum in use. In most countries the licensed
spectrum has not been auctioned yet and with a strong wired infrastructure, this has resulted
in minimum WiMAX adoption, with only a few operators investing in WiMAX-based networks.

There are also the cases of WorldMAX in the Netherlands, offering mobile WiMAX service in
Amsterdam and Telenor in Norway using WiMAX to deliver DSL like service to remote areas
[1]. These and other operators can now benefit from stimulus funding to expand their
networks in rural and underserved areas. Still, in the European Union this represents a small
market and WiMAX is not expected to be a main receiver for the Recovery Plan’s funding
with perhaps the exception of some eastern European countries, such as Poland and
Bulgaria. In that region, several WiMAX networks are being deployed in major cities with
private financing, but some of these deployments could benefit from money from the EU to
expand to remote and underserved areas.

WiMAX’s window of opportunity is being created in places such as India. A lack of wired
infrastructure in a country with enormous distances represents great opportunities for
WiMAX. The delays in the auctions for the WiMAX spectrum was a main constraint for the
adoption of WiMAX in India, but in August 2009 the Indian government opened up the
auction of 3G and WiMAX spectrum. It planned to issue four 3G licenses and three WiMAX
spectrum licenses. The government set $360 million as the lowest bid for the WiMAX
spectrum auction and for the 3G spectrum the bid is at $716 million per operator.

Although apparently the perfect place for a general adoption of WiMAX to deliver broadband
to the numerous remote locations, a developing country like India represents other
challenges such as the low average revenue per user (ARPU) as a result of the low income
of the general population. On average the worldwide monthly residential ARPU is $39.50,
and business ARPU is $121.80 for WiMAX [5]. In India the ARPU can be as low as $4 for
residential users. Creating a business case in these conditions requires funding from local
governments. BSNL is a state-owned and fully subsidized operator in India, delivering
broadband access using WiMAX for areas with a low ARPU. Other players investing in
WiMAX in India include Tata, Reliance, Bharti Airtel and Aircell.

Russia and Brazil could contribute to the reopening of a window of opportunity for WiMAX as
well. Both have large territories with challenging geographies and scattered populations
outside the main cities. These people can benefit not only from broadband internet access,
but ideally from a bundle offering including internet and VoIP phone. This could result in a
boost for local economies which the governments cannot neglect.

Infonetics [5] reports Russia as one of the most promising areas currently for WiMAX, with
several networks operating such as Yota with more than 100 000 subscribers in Moscow and
St. Petersburg, as well as a number of smaller operators: Enforta, ComStar, MetroMX and
Synterra.

Opinion Paper 9 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

Maravedis [6] forecasts estimate the number of WiMAX subscribers in Brazil to jump from
184,000 in 2008 to almost 8 million in 2013. In November 2009, Brazil's communications
minister Helios Costa presented a proposal for expanding broadband access. It includes an
investment of BRL 75.5bn (€28.9bn) through 2014, of which BRL 26.5bn (€10.1bn) will be
from public funding. The aim is to increase the number of broadband users to 30 million
within five years. The proposal covers a number of issues about implementing the plan,
including proposals for releasing spectrum in the 450MHz, 2.5GHz and 3.5GHz band for
mobile broadband, targeting the adoption of BWA technologies such as WiMAX as well as
the possible creation of a nationwide fibre network.

4 Conclusions

In the US fiber and WiMAX are the main competitors for the stimulus money designated for
broadband infrastructure. Fiber offers significantly higher CAPEX, but also higher bandwidth.
The question is to evaluate if the high investment in fiber allows building a successful
business case that convinces the NTIA and RUS. WiMAX includes the portability/mobility
factor for broadband access and can deliver broadband access to unserved and
underserved areas with a significantly lower investment. Broadband wireless technologies
seem to be ideal for rural broadband deployment, with WiMAX coming out as the front
runner solution.

LTE could be seen as another BWA solution for rural broadband. After the long debates
about WiMAX and LTE it is important to understand where these technologies currently
stand. They have different parents, but they share most of the same technological DNA.
Motorola has stated it will use up to 90% of its WiMAX technology in the LTE equipment it is
currently working on.

WiMAX was presented initially as a disruptive technology which could create a whole new
business model in direct competition with the current 3GPP mobile operators. Delays in the
availability of devices, “hype vs reality” of performance and the economic downturn have
made this an unrealistic ambition. In different circumstances the tier-1 mobile operators
could have been forced to embrace the technology if competing mobile operators using
WiMAX had started flooding the market with cheap VoIP-based mobile terminals. In reality
the market went elsewhere, but this does not mean the death of WiMAX as predicted. The
main mobile market that currently provides mobile broadband via 3G HSPA networks will
deploy LTE in the near future. This compromise was reached with the market and
specifically with the vendors, and it was one of the main reasons why some vendors such as
Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks pulled out their investments.

WiMAX still has sources of competitive advantage, and it is growing worldwide, albeit on a
lower rate than forecasted. LTE is still in its development and trial phases. WiMAX is
available now as an attractive, cost-effective solution for providing broadband wireless
access. It is an all-IP technology and offers all of the latest advanced radio techniques to
enhance coverage and to increase capacity, while reducing CAPEX and OPEX. The
spectrum for WiMAX is available globally, although action needs to be taken by regulators
for auctioning this spectrum to interested investors, rather than allowing it to be acquired in
order not to be utilized and thus to block its proliferation.

Opinion Paper 10 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

The number of current deployments based on WiMAX indicates the technology is not likely
to disappear in the near future. There are different business models for WiMAX, such as
providing rural broadband access or the attractive vertical markets segment. Non-adoption
by tier-1 operators, with the exception of Sprint/Clearwire, does not mean there is no
profitability in WiMAX investments.

Looking at solid business cases rather at than hyped “el-dorado” like scenarios, one can find
good opportunities for using WiMAX. Besides the US stimulus package, other regions of the
globe are investing in broadband as a vehicle of development. The global rural broadband
incentives by governments provide a good base from which to expand the utilization of
WiMAX as a leading technology. WiMAX is available now with high-speed performance and
a solid roadmap. It also overcomes several issues such as the CAPEX of deploying fiber or
the pricing for the 3GPP spectrum.

WiMAX needs this boost to create a window of opportunity if it wants to be more than a niche
technology. Being a niche technology can still enable smaller operators to create successful
business models, but for WiMAX adoption on a larger scale worldwide, a larger ecosystem is
required. This will only be possible by creating economies of scale than will lower the
CAPEX and OPEX for WiMAX-based networks, giving it competitive advantage over other
technologies such as LTE or HSPA.

One thing remains certain in the present chaotic situation: The market will keep everyone in
the business entertained for the oncoming years and we will continue to guess what amazing
things the future reserves in this field.

Opinion Paper 11 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

5 The Author

Guilherme Pinto is a consultant in Detecon International GmbH at the Bonn

Headquarters in Germany. He is a telecommunications engineer with a background
in mobile communications networks, complemented by business and administration
studies. With more than six years in the consulting business he has extensive
experience in the broadband wireless market, having participated and managed
projects in four continents working closely with vendors and operators worldwide.

6 References
[1] WiMAX Forum [online] http://www.wimaxforum.org
[2] Brodband USA [online] http://www.broadbandusa.gov
[3] 4Gcounts, 2009, 4Gcounts Quarterly Report: Q2 2009, Maravedis Reports
[4] Commission earmarks €1bn for investment in broadband [online]
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/35
[5] Infonetics Research Report, August 2009, WiMAX Equipment, Devices and
Subscribers, Infonetics Research
[6] Maravedis Reports, 2009, WiMAX & Broadband Wireless Access Equipment Market
Analysis, Trends & Forecasts, 2009-2014, Maravedis

Opinion Paper 12 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

7 Glossary
3GPP: 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
ARPU: Average Revenue Per User
BIP: Broadband Initiative Program
BTOP: Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program
BWA: Broadband Wireless Access
CAPEX: Capital Expenditure
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic Acid
DSL: Digital Subscriber Line
EU: European Union
HSPA: High Speed Packet Access
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IP: Internet Protocol
ITU: International Telecommunications Union
LTE: Long Term Evolution
MIMO: Multiple Input Multiple Output
NOFA: Notice Of Funds Availability
NPV: Net Present Value
NTIA: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
OPEX: Operational Expenditure
PDA: Personal Digital Assistant
ROI: Return on Investment
RUS: Rural Utilities Service
SOFDMA: Scalable Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
SWOT: Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
UK: United Kingdom
US: United States
USB: Universal Serial Bus
VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol
WiMAX: Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access.

Opinion Paper 13 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

8 Annex

Remote Area:

An unserved, rural area 50 miles form the limits of a non-rural area

Rural Area:

Any area, which is not located within:

O a city, town, or incorporated area that has a population > 20,000 inhabitants
O an urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to a city or town that has a population >
50,000 inhabitants.

Unserved Area:

An area composed of one or more contiguous census blocks where at least 90 percent of
households in the proposed funded service area lack access to facilities-based, terrestrial
broadband service, either fixed or mobile, at the minimum broadband speed.

Underserved Area:

Last mile Projects - an area composed of one or more contiguous census blocks where at
least one of the following is met:
O no more than 50 % of households in the area have access to facilities based,
terrestrial broadband service at speed greater than the minimum broadband speed
O no fixed or mobile broadband service provider advertises broadband speeds of at
least 3 Mbps downstream in the proposed funded service area
O the rate of broadband subscribership for the proposed service area is 40 % of
households or less

Middle mile Projects - an area composed of one or more contiguous census blocks where
one interconnection point terminates in a census block area(s) that qualifies as unserved or
underserved for last mile projects.

Opinion Paper 14 Detecon International GmbH

 WiMAX: Window of Opportunity

9 The Company
Detecon International GmbH

Detecon International is a leading worldwide company for integrated management and

technology consulting founded in 2002 from the merger of consulting firms DETECON and
Diebold. Based on its comprehensive expertise in information and communication
technology (ICT), Detecon provides consulting services to customers from all key industries.
The company's focus is on the development of new business models, optimization of
existing strategies and increase of corporate efficiency through strategy, organization and
process improvements. This combined with Detecon's exceptional technological expertise
enables us to provide consulting services along our customers' entire value-added chain.
The industry know-how of our consultants and the knowledge we have gained from
successful management and ICT projects in over 100 countries forms the foundation of our
services. Detecon is a subsidiary of T-Systems, the business customers brand of Deutsche
Telekom.

Integrated Management and Technology Competence

We possess an excellent capability to translate our technological expertise and

comprehensive industry and procedural knowledge into concrete strategies and solutions.
From analysis to design and implementation, we use integrated, systematic and customer-
oriented consulting approaches. These entail, among other things, the evaluation of core
competencies, modular design of services, value-oriented client management and the
development of efficient structures in order to be able to distinguish oneself on the market
with innovative products. All of this makes companies in the global era more flexible and
faster – at lower costs.

Detecon offers both horizontal services that are oriented towards all industries and can entail
architecture, marketing or purchasing strategies, for example, as well as vertical consulting
services that presuppose extensive industry knowledge. Detecon's particular strength in the
ICT industry is documented by numerous domestic and international projects for
telecommunications providers, mobile operators and regulatory authorities that focused on
the development of networks and markets, evaluation of technologies and standards or
support during the merger and acquisition process.

Detecon International GmbH

Oberkasselerstr. 2
53227 Bonn
Telefon: +49 228 700 0
E-Mail: info@detecon.com
Internet: www.detecon.com

Opinion Paper 15 Detecon International GmbH