ISLAMABAD (August 13 2007): WiMax service, a high-speed wireless telephone and internet facility, will be launched nation-wide next month for the first time in the country, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Shahzada Alam Malik said on Thursday.

"The infrastructure developed for Wimax Service in Pakistan is the biggest in the world," he said while speaking at a mobile phone company's license extension ceremony here.

The PTA Chairman said the Wireless Local Loop (WLL) license holders in 3.5 GHz frequency have now established their networks using WiMax technology after issuance of commencement certificates by the Authority.

Shahzada Alam said the Authority has issued the certificates to Buraq Telecom, Wateen Telecom and MyTel to start their operations across the country next month.

The rest of the WLL operators holding spectrum in the 3.5 GHz were also in the planning stage while DV Com was also holding WLL license in all 14 telecom regions, he said.

"The networks developed by these companies have been checked and all the commencement certificates have been issued after thorough evaluation by the concerned authorities," he said.

The mobile operators such as Mobilink are also expected to join the WiMax market in the future. China's ZTE Corp has built a pre-WiMax trial network comprising one six-sector Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and 17 CPEs (Customer Premises Equipment) for Telecard.

The infrastructure put in place by various companies is a milestone in the spread of WiMax, a super-fast wireless technology that has a range of up to 30 miles and can deliver broadband at a theoretical maximum of 75 megabits per second. The 802.16-2004 standard, which is used in fixed WiMax networks, is being skipped in favour of a large-scale introduction of 802.16e, which was only recently agreed upon by the WiMax Forum.