VoIP over WiMAX from Motorola

This morning I spoke with Juan Santiago, Senior Director of Motorola's 802.16 products. He detailed their WiMAX plans and I found it especially interesting to hear that Motorola would be taking their existing VT1000 home VoIP gateway product and integrating a WiMAX CPE to offer VoIP over WiMAX. The VT1000 supports 10 different VoIP service protocols, including Motorola's own IMS implementation, allowing operators to offer high quality voice services over mobile broadband. He also said there was a VT2500 on the way which would also be integrated with the WiMAX CPE. Both products are expected in January 2007.

Juan said this would be one of three CPE's that Motorola will be offering for consumer access over WiMAX -- there will be a broadband only, the VoIP/broadband product based on integrating the VT1000 and VT2500, and a combined VoIP WiFi product... and he hinted at WiFi VoIP handsets, "entirely eliminating the need to go to an analog telephone."

Of course none of these products will be available in the U.S. market. You'll have to go over the border to Canada or Mexico, or overseas. Motorola is focused on delivering WiMAX in the 3.5 GHz range, which is a portion of the spectrum reserved in the U.S. for the military.