InformationWeek's W. David Gardner reports today that Alvarion's BreezeAccess VL WiMax technology has been deployed on the "hilly and scattered islands of Okinawa."

"The WiMax deployment is being installed by NTT West Corporation Okinawa Branch Group and Tzvika Friedman, Alvarion president and CEO, said the success of the Okinawa deployment will serve as a catalyst for larger deployments in Okinawa and throughout Japan," Gardner writes. "He added that traditional landline networks are too costly for broadband deployment in many regions of Japan, opening the way for WiMax's wide area wireless technology."

More here from Digital Media Asia ... and the press release is here.