Wireless Broadband Conference comes to a close

The East African Wireless Broadband Conference came to a close last week at Nairobi's Hilton Hotel .The three-day conference held under the auspices of Kenya's ministry of Information and Communications under the theme Technologies & strategies to evolve optimised networks- provided a platform to promote effective roll-out of the technology throughout Africa. In addition, the forum acted as a catalyst to stimulate take-up of the right technologies to multiply connectivity across Africa. The wireless technologies discussed at the conference included 3G (Third Generation), WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). The conference was officially opened by Kenya's Information and Communications Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo on behalf of minister Mutahi Kagwe.

Key speakers at the conference included Gajinder Vij, Director, Corporate Technical Marketing, Qualcomm, USA, who gave a presentation on 3G Broadband Wireless. His presentation provides an overview of Qualcomm's wireless vision and the key features and benefits of the 3GPP and 3GPP2 evolution paths. Simon Lee, head of planning and Engineering, Safaricom Kenya, gave an overview of 3G implementation in Kenya. Speaking at the conference, Dr Ndemo said Kenya was pleased to host the conference, given that wireless technology was actually meant for Africa. Echoing similar sentiments, Telkom Kenya Managing Director Sammy Kirui noted that the conference was important for Kenya and the region, which has been using copper for a very long time. "Telkom has now decided to go broadband wireless", he emphasized.

Abou Diallo, Sales Engineer - Africa, SR Telecom, Canada gave a presentation on demystifying WiMAX technologies. This presentation demystified the capabilities anticipated for WiMAXcertified equipment and made the technology understandable for carriers, as well as for the BWA industry at large. Finally, this presentation addresses how the right balance of advanced WiMAX technologies will enable carriers to provide broadband wireless coverage on a large-scale.

Noel Kirkaldy, Wireless Broadband Director, Motorola Europe, Middle East and Africa gave a presentation on the role Motorola is playing in the region as regards the evolution of wireless technology.

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