Over 300 exhibitors from 28 countries participated in the Malaysia’s largest information and communications technology showcase - ACM:2008 ASEAN ICT EXPO at the KL Convention Centre from 28 to 30 October.

Held in conjunction with the Experiencing Convergence. myBroadband Exhibition and Conference 2008, most exhibitors at ACM:2008 displayed their broadband-related products, services and concepts.

While it was impossible for the Comm & Tech Asia team to cover them all, here’s some we managed to cover.

WiMAX backhaul

Wireless broadband is certainly hot in Malaysia right now with the four 2.3GHz spectrum licensees rolling out their WiMAX services in the country and local distributor Aglotel Wireless Solutions displayed a range of high-capacity wireless infrastructure solutions from InfiNet Wireless in Moscow, Russia.

These include the InfiLINK, point-to-point wireless backhaul solution, InfiMESH family of equipment for mesh networks with 2.4GHz 802.1 b & g WiFi access point and the InfiMAN family of multiple point-to-multipoint solutions for a wide rang eof business applications.

The InfiLINK 2 X 2 family has from 18 to 300 Mbps backhaul capacity in line-of-sight and non-line-or-sight communications and its operational range of up to 60km lets network operators build high-capacity networks with fewer network elements.

Its used in wireless Internet service provider (WISP) infrastructure backhaul links, building-to-building connectivity at Fast Ethernet speeds, redundant cellular backhaul, multiple E1/T1 time-division multiplex (TDM) and Ethernet/IP transport, is a cost-effective alternative to legacy microwave links, is a reliable backhaul for fibre lines and backhaul for WiMAX base stations.

It’s available in 2.3 – 2.4GHz and 4.9 – 6.0GHz frequency bands with 5, 10, 20 & 40 MHz chanel bandwidths.

“It uses a proprietary wireless backhaul solution based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and PacketOne Networks uses it in the backhaul from its base stations, with WiMAX in the last mile,” said Joshua Chan, Aglotel Wireless chief executive officer.

The InfiMAN family comprises a range of powerful, high-capacity base stations for wide network coverage and different customer premises equipment (CPEs) depending on application.

It’s available for 900MHz, 2.3 – 2.7GHz, 3.4 – 3.6GHz and 4.9 – 6.4GHz frequencies, with each cell of up to 35km radius and its key uses are in city-wide corporate networks, video and closed-circuit TV surveillance, WISP/operator networks providing secure communications for government and corporate customers, for rural connectivity and in medium and long-range point-to-multipoint communications.

“It’s a wireless router designed especially for applications such as video surveillance and voice-over-IP (VoIP) and especially video surveillance is very demanding and requires real-time throughput and high quality-of-service (QoS),” said Joshua.

The InfiMESH family of products provides a suite of equipment for mesh networks including single- and dual-radio mesh nodes suited for mobile applications including high-speed video streaming.

It’s key applications include nomadic/mobile networks for public safety and mobile vehicle connectivity, fixed mesh networks for video surveillance, mesh networks of corporate, government and other customers as part of telco/WISP or private networks, ad-hoc emergency mesh networks and in WiFi hotzones using its long-range, high-power, built-n WiFi access point and antenna diversity.

InfiMESH is available for 2.3 – 2.4GHz, 3.4 – 3.7GHz, and 4.9 – 6.4GHz frequencies with WiFi access at 2.4GHz, supports self-healing and self-organising mesh networks with maximum throughput with minimum latency and minimizes operating costs, has end-to-end transparent QoS with 802.1p and DiffServe/ToS supportand supports mobile subscribers traveling at up to 160km/h.

Aglotel also had on display its range of  AgloPhone fixed line, DECT and IP telephone sets.

HSPA notebook

Maxis unveiled the special Dell Mini Inspiron 9 notebook PC with embedded 7.2 Mbps, 5530 HSPA Mobile Broadband Mini-Card and SIM card slot for anytime, anywhere surfing at the expo a few days before it officially launched it.

This special, HSPA-enabled model is only available through Maxis under a special arrangement with Dell and Maxis sells it to customers at RM99 per month for 24 months, including six months unlimited Maxis Broadband access under a credit card easy-payment scheme and customers who choose to continue beyond the free period pay for broadband access at RM77 per month, billed separately from their easy-payment.

For now, the Maxis Broadband network only supports up to 3.6 Mbps peak download speed but users of the notebook can enjoy higher speeds if and when Maxis upgrades their network to 7.2Mbps peak.

Otherwise, the notebook has a 1.6GHZ Intel Atom Processor N270, an 8.9 in LED (1024 x 600) display, which weighs just over 1 kg and which is intended as a small, portable device for Internet access anywhere and anytime and it’s designed for mobility.

It has a sealed keyboard, solid state drive (SSD) memory storage, its screen enables viewing of web pages with no left-right scrolling and its keypads are large and easy to navigate.

Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11g provides users with wireless Internet access in hotspots at home, on campus, in local coffee shops, in the office or at conferences.

Dell launched the retail model of the Mini 9 at KL Sentral just after ACM:2008 on the 30 October but it does not have embedded HSPA connectivity.

WiMAX demo & LTE simulation

Nokia Siemens Networks held a live simulation of WiMAX in the 2.5GHz band using its Flexi WiMAX rack-mounted base station – the smallest WiMAX base station, an access surface node (ASN) gateway which works like a base station controller and a Surpass hiD 6615 carrier-class, single-board, stackable Ethernet switch, with a Nokia N810 WiMAX/WiFi Internet Tablet and notebook PC as the user terminals and with the notebook also providing the authentication, authorisation and accounting (AAA) function.

It’s also to demonstrate the system’s capability to work at 2.3GHz for which spectrum licenses have been issued in Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Bangladesh, with India and Indonesia planning to issue 2.3GHz licenses.

“The 2.3GHz frequency is clear spectrum in the Asia-Pacific, so there’s no need to refarm spectrum and our 2.3GHz product will be ready for WiMAX Forum certification  in the first quarter of 2009,” said Dr. Danabalan Amirthalingam, Nokia Siemens head of WiMAX Solution Sales Management, Radio Access, Asia Pacific Region.

The base station which can operate in environments with temperatures between -35 and +55 °C is pole-mounted together with its three-sector antenna which is MIMO (multi-input, multi-output) ready and is managed by the NetACt management system used to manager GSM, UMTS and WiMAX systems, while cross-polarisation in its smart antenna provides improved coverage and optimal data throughput.

Nokia Siemens also simulated a 3G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and a high-definition TV download from a server over it, whole it monitored any delays.

Its Proportional Fair resource management system allocates bandwidth according to demand by each application, such as web browsing or video streaming so operators can optimise their system’s throughput to suit different needs or to provide subscribers with different qualities of service and this can be extended to WiMAX networks as well.

Jaring broadband

Jaring, Malaysia’ pioneer ISP showcased its consumer and corporate broadband offerings.

For consumers it provides its Flite wireless broadband, wired ADSL services, its Flite WiFi services, its MY015 Internet telephony service and its range of related content. Flite WiFi is available in parts of Ipoh, Kota Bharu and Malacca.

For corporate customers it provides Flite Office and Flite Enterprise broadband, IntraOffice company intranet for small-to-medium enterprises, IP-PBX telephone system for businesses, MY015 Internet telephony and dedicated fixed leased line access.

AMAX WiMAX

Asiaspace promoted its AMAX, 2.3GHz WiMAX service launched in September. It currently covers parts of the Klang Valley and will cover all of it by the end of 2008 and the whole country by the end of 2010.

Its packages start at RM99 per month for 1Mbps and a USB-WiMAX modem, 1.5Mbps multi-user package costs RM138 per month with desktop modem, while its 2Mbps enterprise/SOHO multi-user package costs RM388 per month with desktop and USB modem and antenna.

Speedy Giraffe

PCOM Technologies displayed its range of Giraffe consumer, commercial and professional digital audio-visual connectivity products and its range of fibre optic infrastructure cabling and test products.

The Giraffe range includes DVI and HDMI adaptors, connectors, cables, cleaning tools, wall-mount panels, connectivity convertors, interface convertors, amplifiers and switchers, which the Petaling Jaya based company provides.

Its fibre optic products include its SpeedHome fibre to the home products, including passive optical network optical line terminals (PON OLT), optical network monitoring system, cables, termination racks and boxes, fibre distribution panels, distribution cabinets, optical closures, splitters, connectors, fibre installation tools and checkers.

Others in its Speedx range include SpeedWave fibre optic cabling, SpeedMate connectors, SpeedTool tools and cleaning devices, SpeedTest test equipment, SpeedActive active fibre optic equipment such as media convertors, GBIT, SPF and so on and its PolyMate range of plastic fibre interconnect accessories.

Concept smart home

Telekom Malaysia, The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications to showed what Malaysians can expect in from a smart home with an up to 10 Mbps fibre to the home connection in their D’Impian Smart Home concept smart home.

It will have a fibre modem known as an optical network unit (ONU) connected to the residential gateway linked to all facilities in the home and could include RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) readers to monitor the whereabouts of visitors with RFID (radio-frequency identification tags. RFID tags can also be used to keep track of the inventory of food items in the fridge or cupboard.

The D’Impian Living Room includes a high-definition TV and a smart home automation console to control the lights, air conditioning, open and close curtains. These can also be done via remote control from outside over the Internet.

The D’Impian Teenager’s Room has a 32-inch TV and a flat screen computer which lets occupants play various games against their friends elsewhere in the world and could include an on-screen avatar which moves in accordance with their physical movements in the room.

The home also includes a WiFi digital photo frame, a PC which displays a virtual newspaper in 3D and home surveillance cameras which let owners monitor their home via mobile broadband from their car.

For those who work from home, it has a D’Impian SOHO Room with access to e-Biz, e-Government and e-Surveillance systems, as well as the U & Me Multimedia Conferencing system which enables video conferencing with business associates and customers worldwide.

Its myBIZpoints small business application includes an e-commerce platform for doing business, a content management system, trade materials and a payment gateway, and if required, it can hook up to a logistics provider.

The myBIZpoints package costs under RM400 a month, including a 10 Mbps fibre connection. MyBIZpoints was launched towards the end of 2008.

D’Impian Car Porch lets users monitor surveillance cameras in the home on their 3G videophone using Maxis 3G and users can also remotely tilt and zoom the camera and speak with anyone within its vicinity.

Maxis Surveillance Services also let users monitor surveillance cameras anywhere in the world in a way similar to conventional CCTV over an Internet connection.

Also Maxis WAP portal includes 40 videos, including 20 under the Fetch mobile entertainment service launched last October. Car Porch lets uses continue watching the same channel they were watching in the home in the car.

Back to nature

DiGi took a rather unprecedented step with a huge pavilion dedicated to the theme of staying in touch with nature and of being green. It comprised of a part-like setting with grass and trees but little to suggest cellular communications.

The only hint of technology were large LCD displays featuring games and a contest to get and win a prize.

PacketOne Networks promoted its WiMAX service at the event, while Motorola displayed its broadband infrastructure equipment with the theme of Broadband Everywhere.