The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-07) formally recognized technology derived from IEEE 802.16 by incorporating it as the sixth terrestrial IMT-2000 radio interface. This is the first addition to IMT-2000 since the original five were adopted years ago as part of the 3G radio standards being used globally and significantly pushes the technological envelope of IMT-2000 capabilities.
IMT-2000 — International Mobile Telecommunications — is a global standard defined by ITU in a set of interdependent ITU Recommendations, which include the specifications for the radio interfaces of advanced wireless communications systems such as 3G mobile.
An initial application for the IMT-2000 Advanced standard was made at the ITU-R WP8F meeting in Kobe, Japan, in January this year. The adoption of the latest radio interface was the culmination of tireless effort among administrations, industry and ITU experts.
"It gives me great satisfaction to observe that the ITU Radiocommunication Sector continues to be responsive to the most pressing needs of the wireless industry in the deployment of innovative technological solutions," said Valery Timofeev, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau. "The successful approval of the two new Resolutions and four draft Recommendations dealing with IMT technologies represents a pinnacle in the recent technical achievements of the Sector."
WiMax extends access to global population
"WiMAX technology currently has the potential to reach 2.7 billion people," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. "Today's announcement expands the reach to a significantly larger global population."
The new technology will facilitate delivery of broadband wireless services at lower cost and include multiple wireless broadband Internet services, including VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). The specific terminology of the IEEE 802.16 standard in ITU-R M.1457 Recommendation is IMT-2000 OFDMA TDD WMAN.
Roger Marks, Chairman of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access, said: "I am immensely gratified that the international community, through ITU, has recognized the significance of the IEEE 802.16 Wireless MAN standard."
Proposals to the forthcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) starting next week in Geneva that will be requesting additional spectrum for the deployment of the IMT 3G-type systems worldwide will take into account the new IMT-2000 OFDMA TDD WMAN standards derived from the IEEE 802.16 mobile component.
