Interview with Yatish Pathak, CEO and Founder, SOMA Networks

How many mobile WiMAX users would there be at present and what percentage of that is served by SOMA Networks platform?

Many analyst firms have estimated the size of the Mobile WiMAX market and according to analyst firm Visant Strategies, there will be expected 12 million subscribers using 802.16e powered services in 2010, with well over 50% of these being primarily "fixed" wireless customers.

As Mobile WiMAX is not yet a certified standard, there are no subscribers on certified Mobile WiMAX systems. Estimates by another analyst firm, Maravedis, count approximately one million current broadband wireless subscribers using WiMAX-ready technology. Many of these will have an upgrade path to Mobile WiMAX, but such statistics are not well understood at the moment. The industry is currently at an inflection point and is poised to take off. We anticipate this to be a multi-billion dollar market within a few years, and SOMA Networks will command a sizeable share of the market.

Can you update us on some of your customer deployments?

Yes. Late last year, AT&T announced a deployment in Pahrump, Nevada using our FlexMAX platform. The success of this deployment, in terms of subscriber up-take rates and high customer satisfaction proves the viability of broadband wireless as an alternative to wired DSL, even in the demanding US market. Earlier this year, we also announced Milmex, a competitive provider in Krakow, Poland that is showing strong growth potential in Eastern Europe. AT&T exemplifies the use of broadband wireless to serve the “DSL infill” market in advanced economies, whereas Milmex exemplifies the opportunity to use broadband wireless as new infrastructure in emerging markets that is both faster and cheaper to deploy than traditional wired infrastructure. In the coming months, we will be announcing several new rural, independent service providers in North America. In addition, we have numerous trials underway in Southeast Asia, China, and the Middle East, but we aren’t able to disclose carrier names at this time.

What has the regulatory environment been like for WiMAX deployments?

The regulatory environment is very favorable as policy-makers worldwide recognize the potential for Mobile WiMAX as a revolutionary technology that can bridge the digital divide at an unprecedented rate and low cost. Several countries such as the US, UK, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, and many others, have either already freed up or are planning to release wireless spectrum bands for WiMAX technology, specifically to improve the broadband penetration rates in their respective countries as well as to foster healthy competition amongst broadband providers.

What further would you like the regulators to do in this area?

The process of getting regulators to not only allocate spectrum, but to define auction, technical, and pricing rules is critical. Regulators and national governments have shown that they are highly motivated to get WiMAX deployed, but the steps must still be followed before operators will be able to light up their systems.

What are you doing on the video-over-WiMAX front?

Initial video applications in the home will be for computer users such as YouTube, web conferencing, and other Internet video. SOMA is also conducting advanced research in the area of delivering entertainment-grade, video-on-demand applications over WiMAX. Due to the high bandwidth requirements for video on full-size television sets, special coding, multicasting, and storage technologies must be combined to make such services technically and economically viable, but we think this will prove to be an exciting new revenue-generating application for WiMAX service providers who employ our FlexMAX system. Furthermore, as WiMAX mobile services and mobile devices become more prevalent, Mobile WiMAX networks will offer multiple channels of small-screen broadcast video for mobile devices.

What is the latest in Mobile WiMAX standard and certification?

That is the biggest issue right now: the Mobile WiMAX certification. Although the standard has been ratified by the IEEE, the certification process and start date has not yet been finalized and most Mobile WiMAX vendors, along with interested service provider customers, are eagerly anticipating the start of formal certification of vendor gear. SOMA’s plan is to be among the first to certify products once certification testing begins. In the meantime, we continue to successfully participate in the WiMAX Forum’s Interoperability “Plugfests”, which remain a good way for all vendors to test the ultimate goal of the Mobile WiMAX standard, which is device interoperability.

Why is certification such a major issue?

The main aim of certification is to ensure interoperability through the use of certified product and equipment. Certification is a key advantage for WiMAX because it gives carriers the flexibility and confidence that their networks can continue to grow and integrate new services without being limited to single-vendor solutions as they have been in the past with proprietary wireless systems. Certification provides a mechanism to have lower-cost products and additional choices from multiple vendors. An important trend in this area will be to establish many unified, global spectrum profiles to further enable interoperability of global WiMAX deployments.

What has SOMA done to address concerns related to IPR?

There is uncertainty over IPR and associated licensing costs. Some operators would like to see this issue resolved before deploying large-scale operations so as to avoid a debacle like the recent RIM service interruption. SOMA has taken steps to mitigate concerns both through our membership in the WiMAX forum which pledges to provide required IPR to all members on equitable terms, and by licensing WiMAX-related patents directly from Qualcomm, the largest holder of WiMAX-related IPR, who is not covered by membership in the WiMAX Forum.

In short, how does mobile WiMAX compare with technologies like 3G, 4G, HSDPA and EVDO?

WiMAX is better optimized for always-on packet access, and is thus better suited for broadband-to-the-home applications. HSDPA and EVDO are optimized for mobile applications where the need is for occasional use on small displays with low-power, battery-driven devices and full-speed mobility. In broadband-to-the-home applications, the need is for full-size displays, always-on operation, and PSTN-quality voice which can be fulfilled by mobile WiMAX.

How does Wave 2 Mobile WiMAX perform better than 3G and EVDO?

Multi-antenna technologies such as space-time coding, MIMO, and AAS can be combined to dramatically increase the range and capacity of WiMAX base stations. Wave 2 Mobile WiMAX will be the first standard wireless technology designed to support these advanced techniques, and it is mostly through these advanced techniques that Mobile WiMAX derives a performance advantage over 3G and EVDO.