Almere, September 3, 2007 - Hopling Technologies, a rapidly growing leader in IP-based wireless networking equipment for enterprises, operators and service providers, today issued a Statement of Direction on its Mobile WiMAX development strategy.

Hopling Technologies believes that Mobile WiMAX won't take over as the predominant method for connecting wireless mesh access points to each other. For one thing, there's lots more unliensed WiFi spectrum, than licensed WiMAX spectrum available. Furthermore, nowadays a WiFi-based wireless mesh network can also be built in the 700-900MHz, 3.4-3.6GHz and 4.9GHz bands to name a few new licensed (WiFi) bands. The availability of spectrum and the present ubiquity of WiFi terminals will continue to make WiFi the technology of choice for wireless broadband connectivity for citywide deployments.

Hopling Technologies envisions an evolutionary approach through the addition of Mobile WiMAX capability in the company’s multi-radio WiMAX ready Xnet Viper mesh nodes. Because it's a meshed multi-protocol picocell system, it allows operators or enterprises to deploy any wireless access technology they wish, whether WiFi or Mobile WiMAX. That in turn lets them put WiFi picocells up now, thus reserving the wireless network for future more advanced wireless networks, while serving the hundreds of millions of existing WiFi clients.

Ultimately, Hopling Technologies thinks Mobile WiMAX will serve two main roles in mesh networks. One is as a superior access technology for demanding future mobile Internet applications, where its use of licensed spectrum and coding gives it an uncontested advantage over WiFi. The second is to provide overlay capacity linking mesh nodes to one another, using its performance to carry traffic for higher-priced premium services.

“Hopling Technologies has concluded that even Mobile WiMAX will need picocells, which are small enough that it takes 20 or more to cover a square kilometer of urban territory to provide true mobile broadband connectivity,” said Frank Koopman, Chief Executive Officer of Hopling Technologies. “Where operators are looking more and more for a quicker return on investment they are well advised to first “farm” the existing WiFi customer base, without losing out on any option for new services. The present hype around WiMAX may never come round, but we are banking on the benefits WiMAX may bring in the next few years.”