Clearwire, Nortel Partner for VoIP over a WiMax Network
Posted on January 24, 2008 By: Mike, VoIP Facts: The Blog email author
Filed Under VoIP News
Wireless Broadband provider Clearwire Corp. announced this week that it was partnering with Nortel Networks to offer VoIP telephony services to its customers over its own network infrastructure. Presently, the WiMax Internet Service Provider offers VoIP in 37 of it’s 46 markets through partnerships with 3rd party carriers.
The VoIP solution will include Nortel’s Application Server 5200, delivering services such as voice, desktop video calls, presence, and other applications based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Nortel’s IP multimedia softswitch, Communication Server 2000, will handle calls to the PSTN and number portability.
“Clearwire’s customers require high quality voice service in addition to the robust broadband data service we provide,” said chief technology officer of Clearwire, John Saw. “Nortel’s market-leading voice technology best meets Clearwire’s current needs while providing a simple migration path for our future voice communication requirements.”
Nortel and Clearwire see this as a first step, leading to the deployment of new products and services as they become available, with the potentiality of attaining a fixed/mobile convergence on the WiMax network.
Clearwire currently offers a voice and Internet bundle for $29.00 a month with an activation and cancellation fee of $50, according to VoipReview.org. The Clearwire Internet Phone Service user rating on the site is 3/5, with sound quality and customer service seemingly lacking.
As an emerging technology, it has been said that 2008 is to be the year of WiMax. Early adopter Clearwire has called its wireless technology “WiMax like”, and it did indeed start out as proprietary. With the WiMax Forum just recently announcing it would begin testing devices and applications for WiMax certification this year, Clearwire has been working hard to get into the standards fold.
Last summer, Clearwire struck a deal with Satellite TV providers DirecTV and Echostar that would allow each of the companies to sell a bundle of Internet, voice, and TV services. If they can make it work, another player in the triple play market can only be a good thing for the consumer.
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