Intel invests a further $43m in WiMAX provider UQ
Published: 9 June, 2009
Intel has regularly used the funds of its venture capital arm to support WiMAX initiatives around the world. Its latest investment, like the larger stake in Clearwire, goes to an already well supported enterprise in a developed market, rather than a small start-up - the chip giant is putting $43m into UQ Communications, the Japanese mobile broadband operator that is majority owned by national cellco KDDI.
UQ has built out its network in capital Tokyo and will launch its first commercial services on July 1, claiming these will be the fastest in the world at 40Mbps download and 10Mbps upload. Conscious that networks need to be available and performing strongly before mass uptake of WiMAX notebooks and other devices can happen, Intel is giving UQ a kickstart to help it stick to its ambitious build-out program. Its current network covers Tokyo and the neighboring cities of Kawasaki and Yokohama but UQ plans to offer coverage of over 90% of the population by 2012, at an estimated cost of $1.3bn.
Intel already has a stake in UQ, which was formed specifically to bid for a 2.5GHz WiMAX license in 2006 - two licenses were awarded, the other to Willcom to upgrade its PHS services with a data overlay. Other participants are railway operator JR East (whose infrastructure is aiding build-out), Kyocera, Daiwa Securities and Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank. The firm is using equipment from Samsung.
KDDI's interest in UQ (rival DoCoMo also formed a consortium to bid for a license, but failed) shows the intense demand for mobile broadband in Japan, which makes it worthwhile for carriers to invest in multiple networks to gain greater spectrum and capacity. KDDI will also add an LTE system to its CDMA operations. It sees UQ as a complementary business model, especially as Japan, despite its advanced activities in fixed and smartphone broadband, has lagged behind in delivering high speed wireless to laptops. Data and notebook/netbook services are expected to be the first priority for UQ, and will help KDDI fight back against new entrant cellco eMobile, which is heavily focused on flat rate data services. UQ recently said that current 3G+ services are not true broadband and only WiMAX can currently deliver that. DoCoMo is promising 14.4Mbps HSPA+ later this year.
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