Certified WiMAX Products Near As 'Plugfest' Ends

In a sure sign that certified WiMAX wireless broadband products are close to appearing, vendors have started to tout their interoperability as proven at a "plugfest" that ended this week in Beijing.

The plugfest, the second such event sponsored by the WiMAX Forum, is part of the certification process, which has been focused in the CETECOM testing laboratory in Spain. When the interoperability testing process is fully completed, WiMAX products will be certified as being interoperable with each other and compliant with the 802.16-2004 standard. Such certifications are expected by the end of the year, with certified products appearing shortly thereafter.

Redline Communications said Wednesday that it had achieved interoperability between its RedMAX products and the products of four other vendors at the plugfest. Aperto Networks made a similar claim for its products on Tuesday.

"The successful Beijing public plugfest is a critical milestone accomplished towards the formal WiMAX Certification of our products by the end of 2005," Aperto's chairman and CEO Reza Ahy said in a statement. Among the other companies participating in the plugfest were Axxcelera, Sequans and Wavesat.

Companies were required to use their WiMAX products with products from other vendors to test voice, video and data communications.