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The Malaysian National News Agency, Bernama, reports that the four WiMAX licensed companies are facing the possibility of a fine and having their licenses revoked if their services do not commence in a year’s time, according to WiMax.com.

The four companies holding Wimax licenses in the 2.3 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band are facing the possibility of a fine and having their licenses revoked if their services do not commence in a year’s time, Minister of Energy, Water and Communications Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said this week.

The companies are Asiaspace, REDtone-CNX Broadband Bizsurf and Packet One Networks (previously known as MIB Comm). They had been earlier asked by the ministry to start their services in the first quarter of this year.

If the companies have yet to start their services after the first three months of this year, there would be an extension of three months so that they are really ready. “In six months if they do not start, they will be fined and if by one year they do not start their service, their licenses will be revoked.

The companies have to ensure that the Wimax systems will cover 80 percent of the areas of the country and are enjoyed by 99 percent of the population.

Dr Lim said the cost of building a transmission tower could exceed RM2 billion in cost. The whole country will require 5,000 towers in two years time for a good service, he added.

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Skyfire, a Web browser for Windows Mobile devices being demonstrated at DEMO 08. WiFiPlanet thinks it may represent the future of mobile Web browsing.

Unlike other mobile browsers, Skyfire supports dynamic Flash, advanced Ajax, and Java, something the mobile version of Safari for the iPhone does not.

Skyfire displays the whole splash page and can zoom in on any section. It will automatically fit text and other content to a smartphone’s screen to minimize scrolling.

And because Skyfire supports Flash, videos run directly within the browser when you go to view them. This goes for any site that sports Flash. By contrast, since Safari does not support Flash, you can’t access YouTube or any other sites’ Flash content.

Instead, to view YouTube videos on the iPhone you must use Apple’s proprietary YouTube application, which is completely separate from Safari and only plays videos after they’ve been converted to an iPhone-friendly format.

According to Google and Yahoo, the iPhone browser this Christmas season accounted for more than 50 percent of mobile traffic — with the iPhone having only a 2 percent share of the mobile phone market at that point. This should really open it up.

Users can register for a beta version of Skyfire here; the browser is expected to be available in coming weeks. DailyWireless has more on Demo 08.

During today’s 700 MHz auction the closely watched C-Block bidding picked up a new bid during round 17 to push the potential winning price for the block past the $4.6 billion reserve mark, thereby triggering the spectrum’s open-access provision, reports RCR Wireless News. Overall, the FCC’s 700 MHz auction picked up another $1.2 billion in total potential winning bids during round 17, and now sits at just under $12.8 billion in total potential winning bids.

The potential winning bid for block “C” in round 17 remained at $4.7 billion through round 18 which required a minimum bid of nearly $5.3 billion.

If there were only one bidder (Google), there would be no logical reason to bid any more, now that it has hit the $4.6 billion minimum. We may have an answer to that question as early as this afternoon.

UPDATE: We have a winner!

This morning the bidding triggered the “open access” clause, and the following “C Block” auctions did not receive additional bids. The high bid for the “C” block this morning remained at $4,713,823,000, after a second round of bidding today.

“Based on our analysis of the bidding pattern, we believe that if there have been two active bidders for the C Block, the second bidder has lost sufficient eligibility to bid again, and thus, we believe the bidding for the C Block is likely over,” noted research firm Stifel Nicolaus for RCR Wireless, after round 17. Since the rules required anyone else to bid in the next round, it appears that there is no one else trying to compete.

So we likely have a winner for the “C” block. It will provide broadband access (and voice) throughout the United States. This new service will provide an “open access” platform that can run a variety of 3rd party applications.

The winner is widely speculated to be Google, although companies are banned from talking about their bidding while the auction is active. The search company previously said it would bid at least the reserve price for the 22MHz of C Block frequencies.

Now it may have them.

RCR Wireless News reports, the FCC’s 700 MHz auction picked up 945 new bids totaling $1.2 billion in potential winning bids during round 17, 930 new bids totaling $905.3 million in potential winning bids during round 18 and 920 new bids totaling $616.8 million during round 19. Total potential winning bids sat at $14.3 billion at the end of round 19, nearly matching the high-end of pre-auction estimates.

After 21 rounds, the 700 MHz auction swept past the $15 billion mark, and it does not look like its slowing down anytime soon.

Further news in the 700 MHz bidding is unlikely to be nearly as dramatic or game-changing. AT&T and Verizon will likely dominate the 12MHz chunks in the “A” and “B” blocks in the less ideal Lower 700 MHz band, while Qualcomm may grab channel 56 for mobile television. The public service “D” block will go up for auction again at a later date.

End of story.

Related DailyWireless stories include; 700MHz Round One, 700MHz Auction Tomorrow, Frontline: Out of Business, The 700 MHz List, Google’s 700 MHz Plans, FCC Finalizes Rules on 700MHz: Limited Open Access, No Wholesale Requirement, Frontline: Martin Plan Not ‘Open’, Frontline Files 700MHz Plan with FCC, Cyren Call Proposes Joint Commecial/Muni for 700Mhz, 700 MHz Scenarios, AT&T Buys 700MHz from Aloha, Google Android hits G-Spot, Cyren Call to Manage Public Safety Spectrum, Android Developer Challenge — $10M, Google: We Got Trouble. . . In 700 Mhz, AT&T, Verizon & Frontline Want 700Mhz Changes, AT&T Buying 700 MHz from Aloha Partners, Oregon’s $500 Million Statewide Wireless Network, General Dynamics Wins IWN Contract, Joint Commecial/Muni Proposed for 700Mhz, Small Ops Squeezed Out of 700MHz?, Congressional Fix for Universal Service?, Verizon Makes its Move for Universal Service Fund, The Smartest Guy in the Room, 700 MHz On The Line?, 700 Mhz Worth $28B, RUS Funding for 700 MHz, The 700 Mhz Club, Channel 54: Where are You?

Mobile gambling innovators, Spin3, have been selected as this year's top award winner in the mobile gambling category at this year's Future Mobile Awards, presented by Juniper Research. (PRWeb Jan 29, 2008) Post Comment:Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/UHJvZi1Ib3JyLVNpbmctU2luZy1aZXRhLVplcm8=

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