Nortel and Toshiba announced an agreement for the joint development of mobile WiMAX base stations for Japanese and global markets.

The base stations will be based on Nortel’s broadband wireless technology and Toshiba’s amplifier and miniaturization technology.

The new WiMAX base stations will offer low power consumption with high reliability and will feature miniaturized equipment. The base stations’ radio module will be developed by Toshiba. Nortel will develop the digital module for the base stations.

“The initial focus will be on the joint development of WiMAX products, with Toshiba engineers contributing experience and expertise in radio technologies to Nortel’s WiMAX solution,” said Shunichi Kimura, corporate vice president, and president and CEO of Toshiba’s Social Infrastructure Systems Company, the division driving this initiative. “In addition to Japan, there are many countries around the world that would benefit from the implementation of WiMAX technology and this cooperative effort will make a significant contribution to bringing WiMAX solutions to these markets quickly and cost effectively.”

In Japan, Nortel and Toshiba jointly participated in the government’s next-generation wireless trial using WiMAX solutions, and successfully completed the trial service provision in the Tohoku region of northern Japan during December 2006 to March 2007.