Alcatel-Lucent shows off WiMAX handoff in Dominican Republic

Alcatel-Lucent and Dominican Republic-based operator Onemax announced that they’ve completed the world’s first mobile handoffs on a commercial WiMAX 802.16e-2005 network in the 3.5 gigahertz spectrum band just one day after the companies officially launched the network.
Onemax executives, customers, local celebrities and government dignitaries were all on hand to view video telephony, high-definition streaming video, mobile broadband Internet access and Voice over Internet Protocl services in Santo Domingo, the nation’s capital. The services, which were supported with an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core, were delivered over the Onemax network to users traveling in a van.
“This achievement highlights the readiness of our network today, to offer a whole new range of compelling broadband services to residents of the Dominican Republic as well as visitors,” said Raoul Fontanez, Onemax’s CEO. “This collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent’s also is enabling us to give our customers and other distinguished guests a taste of some of the more advanced multimedia services that we will be able to introduce in the future.”
Onemax is the first service provider in the country to offer full nationwide wireless high-speed broadband Internet, multimedia and VoIP services, the company added. Alcatel-Lucent’s WiMAX Rev-e solution provides wireless broadband access in fixed, nomadic and mobile environments, the companies said.
“These achievements show that WiMAX is here today and poised to play an increasingly critical role in the delivery of mobile broadband services worldwide,” said Oliver Picard, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Europe and the South America.