Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Intel invests $43 million in Japanese WiMax carrier

UQ's network is currently the fastest WiMax network in the world

Intel's venture capital arm is investing US$43 million in a Tokyo-based WiMax operator that plans to launch the world's fastest WiMax service in July.

The investment, from Intel Capital, will help UQ Communications to build-out its network, which is now under test in Tokyo.

The service offers download speeds of up to 40Mbps and uploads at up to 10Mbps. It will be formally launched on July 1.

The network currently covers Tokyo and the nearby cities of Kawasaki and Yokohama and will expand to cover additional cities later this year.

UQ plans to offer coverage of over 90 percent of the population by 2012.

Intel has backed the company from the time it applied to the Japanese government to launch service. UQ Communications is also backed by KDDI, Japan's number two cellular carrier, JR East, the major railway operator in Eastern Japan, Kyocera, Daiwa Securities and Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank.

UQ enters the Japanese market at a time of increased competition in the data transmission market.

While Japanese cellular carriers were ahead of the world in offering mobile Internet service to cell phone users, they lagged in providing similar services to PC users.

That market was kicked off by the emergence of E-Mobile, a data-focused carrier that offered the country's first flat-rate HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) service.

Other cellular carriers are now offering their own competing services and NTT DoCoMo, Japan's leading cellular carrier, plans to offer an HSUPA service with uploads as fast as 5.7Mbps later this year.

Download speeds are also due to be increased to 14Mbps later this year. While slower than UQ's data offering, the service is more widely available.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: DoCoMo, etwork, Intel, Intel Capital, KDDI, Kyocera, Mitsubishi, NTT

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: Intel, Japan, WiMax
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Award-winning unified information security from Clearswift.
    Fully integrated web and email gateway security solution, providing - protection from inbound threats, policy based encryption, and data loss prevention.
    Learn more »
  • Maximise Software Cost Savings by License Reharvesting, Recycling & Applying Product Use Rights
    Software asset management (SAM) is a complex process that enables organisations to gain control of their software estate from both a license compliance and financial standpoint. In many organisations, SAM represents one of the few remaining ways that substantial IT savings can be realised. McKinsey and Sand-Hill Group estimate that 30% or more of IT budgets are consumed by software license and maintenance costs. By optimising the SAM process, organisations can maximise software utilisation, reduce the risk of non-compliance (audits, fees, penalties), and reduce overall IT costs by as much as 5 to 10% per year. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • Leveraging the Service Catalog to Scale Your MSP Business
    When assessing an MSP’s maturity and prospects, one question provides more insights than any other: “What’s in your service catalog?” A well-defined service catalog can set the framework for growth. The lack of a service catalog can significantly impede an MSP’s ability to scale. This paper explores why the service catalog is so vital, and provides some practical guidelines MSPs can apply in order to ensure their service catalog provides maximum utility and benefit.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments