Amsterdam Gets Europes First Mobile Wimax Network

AMSTERDAM(Reuters) – A commercial network launched in Amsterdam on Tuesday isthe first in Europe to use a mobile version of the Wimax standard toallow users to surf the Web at high speeds while on the move, operatorWorldmax said.

The broadband wireless network is aimed at competing with telecoms operators KPN (KPN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and T-Mobile (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the privately held Dutch firm said.

It is similar to using a mobile phone network and differs fromnetworks using earlier Wimax technology which required users to bestationary.

The network initially covers just the city centre of Amsterdam, butWorldmax said it plans to extend it across the country in coming years.

The company is a potential threat to mobile operators that areincreasingly looking to data usage to drive growth as revenue fromvoice calls levels off or falls.

Chief Executive Jeanine van der Vlist said a nationwide rollout wasa task similar to building a new mobile phone network, adding thecompany would need about 3,000 sites to cover the Netherlands.

The total cost of building the nationwide network will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Worldmax, whose investors include Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Greenfield Capital, would not reveal financial or subscriber targets.

But the CEO said it would have to become one of the bigger Dutch players with its mass-market offer to be profitable.

The company will charge about 20 euros ($31) per month for awireless broadband connection for laptop computers with unlimitedamount of data.

With comparable speeds to broadband, a lower price and no long-termcontract, Van der Vlist said Worldmax expects to gain customers frommobile operators, but eventually also attract new customer groups suchas teenagers which at the moment cannot afford mobile broadband.

(Reporting by Niclas Mika; Editing by Jason Neely)