Alcatel-Lucent has announced the enhancement of its Open Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) Programme, established to ensure that WiMAX operators have access to a wide variety of terminal devices, with the expansion of its relationships with two key players in the WiMAX CPE market, Intel and Kyocera Wireless.

Alcatel-Lucent has expanded its interoperability testing (IOT) efforts with Intel to ensure the compatibility of Alcatel-Lucent's WiMAX infrastructure with CPE and consumer electronics devices integrating Intel's latest fixed/mobile WiMAX silicon, the Intel WiMAX Connection 2250 as well as its WiMAX MIMO-capable chipset for mobile devices,

Alcatel-Lucent also has signed a joint development agreement with Kyocera Wireless to collaborate on the development of end-to-end wireless broadband solutions incorporating Alcatel-Lucent's IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard WiMAX infrastructure and a variety of wireless devices from Kyocera including multimode mobile phones, non-traditional wireless devices, wireless PC cards and USB devices for PCs.

"The growing strength of our Open CPE Programme shows how quickly the WiMAX ecosystem is maturing," said Karim El Naggar, head of Alcatel-Lucent's WiMAX business. "Together with our existing partners, these new initiatives with Intel and Kyocera will further enhance, in strict compliance with the WiMAX standard, our ability to provide WiMAX operators with the variety and quality of wireless devices they need to offer customers a whole new kind of mobile broadband experience."