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There is more to WiMAX in developed markets than Clearwire, and this month UQ of Japan goes live with its first urban services in one of the world's toughest broadband markets.

UQ will give users free trials of its network from February 26 until June 30, in the first three cities where it has built out 802.16e - Tokyo, Yokohama and Kawasaki. Osaka and Nagoya will be built out by the end of June. Once subscribers are paying for their services, they will be charged ¥4,480 ($50) a month for unlimited access, which undercuts all the flat rate HSPA services currently available. UQ will also charge a sign-up fee of ¥2,835 per user, for which they get a WiMAX laptop card (made by NEC, with chips from Beceem).

UQ, a joint venture led by KDDI and also including Intel, won one of two 2.5GHz licenses awarded last year (the other went to Willcom, which operates the country's PHS network for low cost voice, and is likely to use its license mainly for a data overlay for that). It will be one of the most closely watched Mobile WiMAX launches, because Japan will be such a key test of whether a new network, with an open broadband model, really can make an impact in a country where the 3G operators are so powerful, and broadband penetration already so high.

The UQ Communications venture was specifically formed to bid for the 30MHz of 2.5GHz spectrum that was auctioned at the turn of last year, and consists of KDDI, Intel Capital, East Japan Railway Company, Kyocera, Daiwa Securities Group and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. The group plans to spend $1.3bn on its network and to achieve near-national coverage in five years. It is using equipment from Fujitsu Networks and its partner Airspan, and from Samsung. East Japan Railway Company has a useful 7,500 kilometers of infrastructure to bring to the party.

For a detailed analysis of WiMAX models, see Rethink Technology's newest series of research notes, WiMAX Directions, accessible free at our web site at www.rethinkresearch.biz.