Alcatel became the first vendor out of the gate with a mobile WiMAX portfolio. At the 3GSM World Congress, it took the cover off of an Evolium base station built to the recently finalized IEEE 802.16e standards.

Though not technically mobile WiMAX, since the WiMAX Forum has not even set a date for the technology’s certification, Evolium is the first product built with an eye toward the upcoming specification. It is not, however, the first 802.16e to hit the market. Korea’s WiBro technology is built under the IEEE’s standards also, and LG and Samsung already have live networks running in Korea and at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

Alcatel said the base station would be available for commercial deployment in mid-2006. The vendor has been working closely with chipmaker Intel to develop interoperable CPEs and base stations. The two are now planning a co-marketing campaign to commercialize the technology.

“Alcatel has delivered on its promises, with the availability of a mobile WiMAX solution ahead of most vendors,” Alcatel mobile communications chief operating officer Marc Rouanne said in a statement. “By allowing the commercial network deployments to start by mid-2006, our solution will help accelerate WiMAX market worldwide.”

Launching WiMAX products ahead of their certification has proven to be an effective strategy. Fixed WiMAX leader Alvarion has been selling its BreezeMAX gear for almost a year, though it only recently submitted the kit to the Forum’s interoperability testing labs.