SAN JOSE, CALIF.--BellSouth tomorrow plans to finish and send out what company officials are calling a "WiMAX RFP," a request-for-proposal for broadband wireless equipment in the 2.3 Ghz and 2.5 Ghz ranges, Telephony has learned. Though products in those frequencies technically haven't been certified by the WiMAX Forum yet, BellSouth officials said they are pushing for certification profiles and hope to see progress made at a WiMAX event being held in Paris next month.

Susan Steele, senior director of wireless broadband at BellSouth, told Telephony that the RFP also specifies the importance of price and speed-to-market requirements. "Price is a huge issue, and the bar has been set in broadband by DSL and cable modems already," she said.

Steele did not say where and how soon BellSouth plans to commercially deploy the equipment. "We'd like to get the responses and choose vendors to get something in our lab by the second quarter," she said.

The company also announced today that it had completed its sixth market launch of broadband wireless service in the last six months, in DeLand, Fla., described as a "rural-suburbia" community by Mel Levine, director of product management for the wireless services group at BellSouth.

BellSouth has been using both 2.3 GHz WCS spectrum it acquired at FCC auction, as well as the 2.5 GHz former MMDS spectrum in its market launches so far. The company initially deployed service last August in Athens, Ga., and has since deployed in Palatka, Fla.; New Orleans, La.; Gulfport, Miss.; and Biloxi, Miss.; before DeLand, Fla. Steele said expansion will continue through 2006 and 2007--the company is aiming to meet a goal of having 22 base stations deployed in the 2.3 GHz range to comply with minimum use requirements for the WCS spectrum formulated by the FCC. That deadline isn't until 2007.

The carrier also was pleased to hear that the WiMAX Forum had announced initial certified products in the 3.5 Ghz range, even though BellSouth and other U.S. carriers probably won't be deploying WiMAX in those frequencies. "A journey of a thousand mile begins with one step. It's the first step in a long journey," Levine said.