Set up to promote the adoption of WiMAX compatible products and services – the WiMAX Forum announced on Thursday that Tata Communications, a Tata Group company, has gained representation in its Board of Directors. The WiMAX Forum declared that Prateek Pashine, COO Retail Broadband Unit, Tata Communications, will represent the company in the WiMAX Forum Board.  

The largest telecommunication company of India, Tata Comunications already holds active membership in the WiMAX Forum India Chapter. The company holds leadership position in three of the chapter’s four working groups.

Tata Comunications has joined the group of companies, which already have representation in the Board of WiMAX Forum; the companies include Airspan Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Alvarion, Aperto Networks, British Telecom, Clearwire Corporation, Comcast Cable, Fujitsu, Huawei Technologies, Information and Communications Research Laboratories at Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Intel Corporation, KDDI, KT, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sprint, and ZTE.

Commenting on the Tata Communications’ joining the WiMAX Forum Board, the president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum, Ron Resnick said, “Electing Tata to the board demonstrates the WiMAX Forum’s commitment to the Indian market and signifies the company’s importance to the WiMAX ecosystem worldwide. As one of the leading global Internet and voice operators, Tata Communications has demonstrated its confidence that WiMAX is the leading 4G technology, and they have articulated their plans to bring broadband services to consumers in India through WiMAX.”

Speaking about the representation in the WiMAX Forum, Pashine said, “The strong representation by global operators to the WiMAX Forum board shows how evolved the WiMAX ecosystem has become. Various researches have predicted that India will play an important role in the development of the Global WiMAX ecosystem, and we will bring that perspective to the forefront within the Forum. Markets like India have unique product and business model needs which we expect would lead the way for other markets and operators around the world.”

The WiMAX Forum is a non profit organization formed for the promotion and adoption of WiMAX compatible products and services. The major role of the WiMAX Forum is to certify the interoperability of WiMAX products.