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Taiwan WiMAX CPE makers feel certification fee may be too high
Irene Chen, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 25 December 2007]
Taiwan WiMAX equipment makers feel that the fee for mobile WiMAX product certification testing being charged by the WiMAX Forum may be too high, with some market sources estimating that the total amount for the testing of a single item could top as much as US$200,000, according to sources at the makers. The WiMAX Forum announced on December 19 that its lead certification lab, located in Spain, is now open for formal mobile WiMAX certification testing for 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz WiMAX products, with its four other certification labs in the US, Taiwan, China and South Korea to open for certification testing shortly. The WiMAX Forum expects hundreds of products to be submitted for testing, projecting that the first round of certified mobile WiMAX products will reach the commercial market in early 2008. According to the understanding of Taiwan makers, the WiMAX Forum is to charge US$500 per hour for the certification testing of a mobile WiMAX product, without specifying a total amount for completion of the testing. Some market sources estimated that the total testing fee could reach up to US$200,000 for more sophisticated items. In comparison, the sources said that it will cost about US$25,000-31,250 for the makers to complete the certification testing of a single fixed WiMAX item. In addition, the WiMAX Forum is charging US$10,000 per mobile WiMAX product to use the WiMAX Forum certified mark compared to US$5,500 per fixed WiMAX model. Furthermore, the certification testing for mobile WiMAX products will cover only WiMAX devices complying with the 802.16e Wave 1 standard, instead of products supporting the 802.16e Wave 2 standard which is more likely to become mainstream in the commercial market, pointed out the sources.
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