Airspan Wins WiMAX Contract in Montenegro

Airspan Networks has won a WiMAX rollout contract in the East European country of Montenegro, from IT business solutions provider Comarch on behalf of mobile operator, Promonte.

Comarch and Promonte plan a country-wide WiMAX deployment, and the first phase of deployment includes 10 Airspan base stations already installed in the major cities of Montenegro (Podgorica and the largest holiday resorts), with immediate plans to continue the deployment with additional base stations throughout the country.

The nationwide project focuses on three areas: construction of the WiMAX access network, deployment and integration with the transport network, and access to WiFi infrastructure and core equipment (OSS/BSS systems, routing & switching). The construction of the WiMAX network includes delivery and installation of WiMAX base stations in major cities of the country. The last stage of the project includes installation of OSS/BSS systems and core routing/switching equipment.

The financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

In a country with a population of less than 700,000, Promonte has more than 450,000 subscribers, and is thus the largest mobile provider in Montenegro. After launching mobile services in 1996, Promonte quickly developed the network coverage across the country, overcoming the geographical challenges presented by the mountainous terrain of this Balkan country. A technology-hungry society, Montenegro has one of Europe's highest mobile telephone penetration rates, coupled with a low broadband subscriber density making it well positioned to adopt a WiMAX network to meet Internet access needs.

Posted to the site on 16th October 2008