美国太平洋时间上周六上午十点，老板的一封邮件说WiMax成为3G的一部分了，很快WiMax论坛便公布了这个消息：

International Telecommunication Union Approves WiMAX™ Technology as New IMT-2000 Standard

WiMAX Technology Inclusion to Expand Operators' Global Access to Spectrum Bands For Network Deployments

 

Portland - October 19, 2007 - The WiMAX Forum is pleased to recognize the decision of the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) to include WiMAX technology in the IMT-2000 set of standards. This decision is of global importance to operators who look to ITU to endorse technologies before they invest in new infrastructure. The decision to approve the WiMAX Forum's version of IEEE Standard 802.16 as an IMT-2000 technology significantly escalates opportunities for global deployment, especially within the 2.5-2.69 GHz band, to deliver Mobile Internet to satisfy both rural and urban market demand.

"This is a very special and unique milestone for WiMAX technology," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. "This is the first time that a new air interface has been added to the IMT-2000 set of standards since the original technologies were selected nearly a decade ago. WiMAX technology currently has the potential to reach 2.7 billion people. And today's announcement expands the reach to a significantly larger global population."

From the initial application made at the ITU-R WP8F meeting in January of this year to this week's meeting of the Radiocommunications Assembly in Geneva, Administrations, industry and ITU have worked together to achieve this groundbreaking decision.

"It gives me great satisfaction to observe that the ITU Radiocommunication Sector continues to be responsive to the most pressing needs of the wireless industry," said Valery Timofeev, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau.

With WiMAX technology approved as a new IMT-2000 specification, the WIMAX ecosystem will benefit from greater economies of scale, thus reducing the already low cost to deliver broadband wireless services to include VOIP as well as the multiple services expected from wireless broadband Internet access.

Originally created to harmonize 3G mobile systems and to increase opportunities for worldwide interoperability, the IMT-2000 family of standards will now support four different access technologies, including OFDMA (includes WiMAX), FDMA, TDMA and CDMA.

"3G solutions based upon technologies such as W-CDMA, CDMA-2000, and TD-SCDMA technologies were already included in the IMT-2000 set of standards," said Resnick. "With WiMAX technology now included, it places us on equal footing with the legacy-based technologies ITU-R already endorses." The bottom line is that operators across the globe now have the freedom to select the right technology to best meet their business and regional needs."

About WiMAX Forum®

The WiMAX Forum® is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization formed to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based upon the harmonized IEEE 802.16/ETSI HiperMAN standard. A WiMAX Forum goal is to accelerate the introduction of these systems into the marketplace. WiMAX Forum Certified™ products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile services. Along these lines, the WiMAX Forum works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. Through the WiMAX Forum Congress Events Series of global trade shows and events, the WiMAX Forum is committed to furthering education, training and collaboration to expand the reach of the WiMAX ecosystem. For more information, visit the trade show link at www.wimaxforum.org.

"WiMAX Forum" is a registered trademark of the WiMAX Forum. "WiMAX," the WiMAX Forum logo, "WiMAX Forum Certified," and the WiMAX Forum Certified logo are trademarks of the WiMAX Forum. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

大意就是国际电联（ITU）已经通过决议批准WiMax协议成为3G标准的一部分。从此WiMax有了大展拳脚的空间，众所周知，WiMax的发展一直受限于频率资源，因为WiMax不是ITU批准的国际标准，因此所需频率就必须由各国政府在3G频率之外重新划定，而WiMax可应用频率较多，各国划定的频率就会不一样，结果就是WiMax必须针对不同频率生产不同设备，生产成本就增加了，并且由于频率不一样，用户不能在不同国家间漫游，使用成本也会提高。WiMax就迫切需要一个全球性的频率标准来解决这一问题，这次ITU的决定无疑给WiMax联盟提供了契机。

对于WiMax，中国政府是持否定意见的，因为要力推TD。当然WiMax对另外两家——CDMA2000和WCDMA也是有影响的，不过对于TD的影响应该最大。这次ITU的决议将WiMax列入了TDD（Time Division Duplex）技术，因此WiMax便不能使用FDD（Frequency Division Duplex）频段，而前两者正是基于FDD的，TD-SCDMA却是基于TDD的技术，这样WiMax不仅从市场层面还从争夺频率资源上对TD构成了挑战。

目前，WiMax已经开始在部分地区商用，支持WiMax的不乏业界巨头，而且在原3G领域投入巨大的大腕级运营商Vodafone也改变了一位拒绝的姿态。就目前的形势看，WiMax的产业化远比TD做的成功，如此下去，TD很可能只能是中国标准，想国际化走向海外基本是没有可能，因为频率资源的使用是排他的。

据我所知，目前从应用层面看，相似的城区覆盖条件下，TD能够提供的实际带宽远低于WiMax设备，那么从用户的角度来看，谁优谁劣就很明显了。