DR. MOHAMMAD S. SHAKOURI, WiMAX Forum Board Member and Vice President of Marketing discusses WiMAX Forum-related activities, the pioneering M-Taiwan program and the impactual role of regulations with PALLAB DUTTA..

Dr. Mohammad S. Shakouri is WiMAX Forum Board Member and Vice President of Marketing. He is also assistant vice president of business development for Alvarion and has 20 years of experience in wireless system, microwave and fiber optic networks. Previously, during three years at Lucent, Shakouri was responsible for managing, building and developing network solutions for European and South American broadband wireless markets. Shakouri also spent 14 years in technical and management positions with Hewlett Packard developing microwave and fiber optic communication components and systems. He co-founded the wireless systems division, where he was responsible for the engineering team developing low cost residential digital wireless systems for US and Asian markets. Shakouri earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University on Subpicosecond GaAs Wafer Probe Systems. In addition to his position with the WiMAX Forum, Shakouri is on the board of directors for the Wireless Communications Association and is an IEEE MTT-SVC chairman.

Will WiMAX show the way forward for adoption of Next Generation Applications (NGA) in the extended European market or will Asian markets come to the forefront in the acceptance of NGA in the next 2-3 years?

Dr. Mohammad S. Shakouri: Technology developments and shifts in market demand happen in ever-shrinking timeframes, and it has become difficult to anticipate which technology will dominate and which services will be in greater demand in different markets. The pace of change has accelerated in part because of heavier involvement by the computer and consumer electronic industries, which typically have shorter product cycles than the telecommunications industry.

Actually, I would say that the leadership is happening more in Korea, Japan, the US and Hong Kong. Europe has not been as innovative in the introduction of new services. I think you would see more Asia -Pacific countries and even the US taking more leadership in terms of adoption of new applications and gadgets. Also, more R&D and innovation seems to be happening in these markets. The Asia-Pacific region, I believe, is going to be the biggest market for WiMAX.

What kind of alliances do you foresee happening in the ICT space and will competitive players - because of converged possibilities - come together to shape the partnerships of the future?

Dr. Mohammad S. Shakouri: Oh yes, there are many alliances which are already happening and the best example that I can give today is the program called M -Taiwan, an initiative to promote Taiwan's ICT industry. The M-Taiwan Program is essentially an ecosystem at work for building demand, supply, and infrastructure in the industry. In similar ways, such alliances will foster the overall development of India's ICT infrastructure and that will fast-forward the adoption of next generation applications and new services rollout. While some companies may have competencies in building gadgets/devices, still others will have capabilities in developing applications. It is the meeting point to offer the best possible "packages" to consumers that will dictate the type and form of alliances in the near future. Open source and open platforms will also fuel more innovation and allow the innovation"umbrella" to spread wider. The diversity of players involved will actually develop and broad-base the ecosystem.

Could you highlight the role that regulation plays in fostering the availability and adoption of mobile broadband services?

Dr. Mohammad S. Shakouri: We are at the stage when we need a new, flexible and forward-looking regulatory approach that allows network operators to choose which technology to deploy and which services to offer to their subscribers, to keep up with technological innovation and the growth of demand in the market. This will in turn enable operators to offer the attractive and affordable service plans and applications that will bring mobile broadband to the mass market, in developed and emerging countries alike. WiMAX technology is the strongest candidate for deployment as it is the first commercially available technology that is optimized for mobile broadband and provides the right cost-performance balance to meet the requirements of network operators and their subscribers.

Regulation plays an essential role in creating an environment that facilitates the commercialization of mobile broadband networks and the subsequent adoption of the service by subscribers. The rapid pace of technological innovation has created a highly dynamic environment which requires a new, forward-looking approach to regulation. Toward this end, the WiMAX Forum recommends that regulators take four actions:

• Adopt a light and flexible regulatory framework that enables market forces to drive technological innovation.
• Choose a technology-neutral approach to spectrum management and licensing that allows operators to deploy the technologies and services that best meet their market requirements.
• Ensure that network operators have access to the appropriate spectrum and to the flexible spectrum arrangements they need for a viable business model, including domestic and international roaming.
• Act in a timely fashion to make the regulatory changes that will enable operators to meet the pent-up demand for mobile broadband services that exists in the market today.

It is exciting to see that many regulators globally have rapidly recognized the importance of regulatory flexibility and have embraced a technology-neutral approach to spectrum management. This will ultimately increase overall spectrum availability and pave the way for new technologies like WiMAX.

Typically, what kind of activities is WiMAX Forum involved with in the NGA space? Will Asia hold some of the important Forum conclaves/meetings?

Dr. Mohammad S. Shakouri: WiMAX Forum members meet three times a year. The next meting is in Madrid and the one after that is in October in Taipei. The Asia event will be in Singapore and we hope that sometime by 2009, we will have some big events in India. We think that SE Asia has a number of opportunities as far as showcasing the local activities goes but the main events for Asia Pacific and the Asia region are going to be in Singapore next year.

[Additional research inputs have been culled from 2 WiMAX Forum papers: "M-Taiwan Program-A WiMAX Ecosystem" and "Empowering mobile broadband" with the requisite permission)

THE M-TAIWAN PROGRAM
Over the years, Taiwan has progressively exhibited ever-improving skills in the arena of ICT products. Its innovation in design manufacturing can be gauged from various categories of products such as routers, notebook computers, cable modems, Wi-Fi equipment, and LCD panels. To match competition around the world, the Taiwan government has undertaken a challenge to continuously invest in new technologies. The M-Taiwan Program is another example of its initiative to promote Taiwan's ICT industry. To build further on the success of 'e-Taiwan', a key component of 'Challenge 2008: the 6-Year National Development Plan' that commenced in the year 2002, the government of Taiwan allocated $ 42 million for the year 2005, and another $ 70 million for 2006, to kick- off the M-Taiwan Program. The M-Taiwan Program is essentially an ecosystem at work for building demand, supply, and infrastructure in the industry. The government has established an environment to support various facets of the project, such as setting up a regulatory and policy frame work, standardizing applied technologies, providing the required funding assistance, and opening up suitable frequency spectrums. This environment set up by the Government is visualized to eventually support about eight-million broadband wireless users by the year 2008. The M-Taiwan program will create several city-wide broadband wireless networks for providing integrated mobile services. These networks will form a big test-bed for the trials of new technology development and application services. To achieve these goals, the following strategies are adopted for the technology development of the M-Taiwan program and WiMAXrelated projects:-

• Form a complete WiMAX ecosystem that includes chipset, CPE, base station, networkelements, system integration, applications and commercial operation
• Develop differentiated applications, e.g., IPTV Broadcasting over WiMAX
• Design a coupled WiMAX/Wi-Fi network to leverage strength of Taiwan Wi-Fi industry
• Leverage government sponsored research & development projects for core technologies,e.g., the WiMAX acceleration project
• Participate in international standards activities and collaborate with international organizations