Tonga Gets Total WiMAX Coverage

Alvarion has announced that Tonga Communications (TCC) has selected its BreezeMAX 3500 solution to cover the Kingdom of Tonga with WiMAX services. Tonga CC, the islands' national operator, plans to overlay its current GSM network with WiMAX to bring broadband data services to the citizens of Tonga. The Kingdom of Tonga, the oldest and last remaining Polynesian monarchy, is an island nation with around 100,000 residents inhabiting 42 of its 170 islands spread over 700,000 square kilometers in the south Pacific, and has thousands more visitors who come to enjoy its year round tropical weather.

"We have been searching for a way to bring broadband to the islands for awhile, but only Alvarion's BreezeMAX fit our business model," said Steve Tusler, CEO of TCC. "Given our island topography and tropical weather, we require a robust system that is easy to scale and works in non line-of-sight conditions. We were impressed with the BreezeMAX system's quality-of-service and proven field reliability worldwide and look forward to bringing broadband to as many island residents as we can and to our many visitors."

"As we expand our WiMAX deployments in Asia Pacific, we welcome Tonga CC's decision to overlay its GSM network with WiMAX to offer the latest broadband services to its users," said Udi Shaked, Alvarion's general manager in the APAC region. "The ability of BreezeMAX to provide broadband to users over large areas becomes clear in a geography such as Tonga. And its advanced OFDM technology overcomes the challenges of deployment in an island topography."

Posted to the site on 20th September 2006