Taiwan High Speed Rail to try on WiMAX

The Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) will cooperate with the Taiwan government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and a number of companies, including Zyxel Communications, NTT, NTT BP and Corning, to carry out an experimental project for broadband Internet access through WiMAX on high- speed trains, according to plan from THSR and ITRI.

The trial project aims to roll out workable mobile broadband access solutions for THSR, and ITRI also plans to cooperate with Taiwan WiMAX hardware makers to develop other value-added solutions for international markets based on experience gained from the field trial on the THSR experimental project, said ITRI.

Related experiments will be carried out in three sections of Taiwan's rail lines, including a section between Taipei and Sungshan, between Taoyuan and Hsinchu and the section near the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park, focusing on testing within tunnels, attenuation of signals, and the deployment of WiMAX networks on different terrains along the rail line, ITRI noted.

The experiment is aiming to reach a data transmission speed of 15Mbps between the terrestrial areas and high speed trains while the trains are moving at speeds of 250-300kmh, ITRI added.

While ITRI is responsible for building the experimental environment and integration of all trial processes, Zyxel will help set up the WiMAX base stations. In addition, NTT and NTT BP will support a project to commercialize the Wi-Fi experience, which it has already carried out on the Tsukaba Express railway system. Corning will also assist by offering its fiber-wireless technology for signal delivery, said ITRI.

THSR will consider how to commercialize the WiMAX service after the testing is completed by the end of 2008, ITRI indicated.

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