Not the first Mobile WiMAX network, but the first WiMAX network to go mobile

By Kevin Fitchard

Earlier this month the first WiMAX network in the US to support true mobility went live commercially, but it wasn’t a Sprint or Clearwire network. DigitalBridge Communications gains that honor, announcing today that its Alvarion-built WiMAX network in Jackson Hole, Wyo., supports full mobility and high-speed hand-off. It also plans to upgrade its other markets to mobility by the end of the year.

DigitalBridge has built WiMAX networks in 14 smaller communities across the US using Alvarion’s now-WiMAX Forum-certified BreezeMAX gear, but Jackson Hole is the first market where it has turned on the mobility software that will allow customers to keep their connections while moving from base station to base station, and it’s the first market where it has started selling mobile customer premise equipment. So far those CPEs consist solely of Alvarion PC cards embedded with Beceem Communications chipsets, but as the US WiMAX ecosystem starts producing more quantities and a greater variety of WiMAX devices and embedded electronics, DigitalBridge will be able to support them, CEO Kelley Dunne said.

“Our approach is to take advantage of the open architecture of the whole WiMAX ecosystem,” Dunne said. “There are a plethora of devices coming out, all of which will work on our network.”

That isn’t just wishful thinking. DigitalBridge has launched its networks over the same 2.5 GHz spectrum being used by Sprint and Clearwire, meaning whatever works over their new nationwide joint venture will work on DigitalBridge. Considering DigitalBridge is focusing exclusively on small communities and its footprint encompasses only half a million people (or 200,000 households), it will depend on the much-larger Sprint-Clearwire deployment to create a market for the dedicated WiMAX handsets and embedded consumer electronics DigitalBridge hopes to sell and support.

While DigitalBridge had mobile-ready WiMAX gear in 13 other markets, Dunne said it selected Jackson Hole as its first mobile market due to the high tourism traffic coming through the city. “We could have done one of several markets, but the number of visitors that come through each year made Jackson Hole a great showcase for mobility,” he said. In addition to selling contract home and mobile broadband connections to Jackson Hole’s permanent residents, DigitalBridge plans to offer temporary service through the local resort where visitors can connect their laptops to the service with rented or loaned PC cards.

Over the next 8 months, though, DigitalBridge plans to switch on the mobility features in its remaining 13 markets: Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Rexburg, Sun Valley and Twin Falls; Idaho; Connersville, Liberty, Washington and Vincennes; Ind.; Butte and Missoula; Mont.; Sioux Falls; S.D.; and Appomattox; Va. All of the markets are too small to be considered competitive with Sprint and Clearwire’s nationwide rollout, which will target metro and mid-sized cities, but Dunne said DigitalBridge could offer up its networks in roaming agreements. The Clearwire network isn’t expected to go live until next year, after Sprint, Clearwire and other investors close their venture deal, though Sprint expects to launch its first market independently this fall.