The CEO of Unwired David Spence believes that WiMax phones will have a future in Australia. Recently returned from a trip to the USA where he saw a WiMax network being rolled out in Chicago he believes that the mooted HTC WiMax phone, which is capable of a transfer rate of 13.8Mbps, is a viable option for Australia
Described as a world first phone, the HTC model will work on the type of network that Unwired is set to role out up against the 3G networks of Vodafone and Telstra’s NextG network. The Seven Media owned Company is currently running tests in Australia however an anticipated $200 million in additional capital investment is needed to complete a roll out in Australia according to the Age newspaper.
Unwired Chief Executive David Spence has just returned from the fact-finding mission to the US. He claims that he was very impressed with the Chicago WiMax system that is 75 percent complete and is bullish about their own system being up and running in the near future. “[Kerry Stokes] would not have invested in us if he didn’t think it was going to work,” he says. “Wi-Fi is the way of the future, especially when you see what the Koreans are doing and what the Americans are doing”.
