WiMAX Forum has announced the completed installation of its Mformation® Technologies Inc. OMA-DM server. This accomplishment is a critical step in readying the WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Laboratories (WFDCLs) to test and certify WiMAX™-enabled products to the guidelines set forth by the WiMAX Forum. Last month the WiMAX Forum launched its Open Retail Initiative, an ongoing global program that will increase availability of WiMAX devices with the goal of reducing the technical and capital overhead by WiMAX network operators to test products on their network.

OMA-DM plays a crucial role in the Open Retail Initiative. Operators will use OMA-DM for over-the-air (OTA) provisioning and activation of new devices. This allows consumers to purchase devices at retail, and activate them securely on any participating operators’ network with no additional step on the part of the operator.

 OTA provisioning is enabled by the OMA-DM device management solution that the WiMAX Forum has partnered with MFormation to provide. With the OMA-DM server in place the WFDCLs, including AT4 Wireless (U.S. and Spain labs), Bureau Veritas ADT (Taiwan), Telecom Technology Center (Taiwan), China Academy of Telecommunication Research (China), and the Telecommunications Technology Association (Korea), will finish preparations to certify equipment and devices in an end-to-end interoperability testing (IOT) environment. Within a few months SIRIM QAS International, a new test lab in Malaysia, will also open to support Open Retail Certification testing as well.

 â€œToday is proof that the WiMAX Forum and its ecosystem are delivering on the promise to open the WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Labs for Open Retail testing and certification,” said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. “For operators, this means a reduction of in-house IOT resources and costs, and quicker time to market and reduced risk for introductions of new devices on their networks. For device vendors, the program will enable instant access to participating operator networks, enabling them to market the same model of innovative product to operators around the globe.”

 The Open Retail Initiative is a pivotal step for the WiMAX ecosystem to remain on the current accelerated path for mass adoption. The initiative drastically improves time-to-market for introduction of new devices through a harmonized set of requirements, creating uniformity among global WiMAX operators. As part of this enhanced certification program, a significant number of new capability requirements have been added, and additional certification tests – including radiated performance testing thresholds and operator interoperability testing (IOT) have been implemented.