Modest WiMAX Market Grows Despite Uncertainty: Industry Report

Modest WiMAX Market Grows Despite Uncertainty

Product Type: Market Research Report
Published by: Yankee Group
Published: January 2007
Product Code: R388-2333

Description

WiMAX has captured significant attention in the marketplace. Investors, service providers and regulators show interest in the opportunities that the technology creates for offering fixed, nomadic, and ultimately mobile broadband services. WiMAX is emerging from a legacy broadband wireless market that consisted of proprietary and, more recently, standardized fixed services (IEEE 802.16.2004) into one that offers a standardized mobile-capable technology based on the IEEE 802.16e or equivalently the 802.16.2005 standard. Companies such as Intel promote WiMAX, aiming to couple it with Wi-Fi and embed the technology in consumer electronics devices.
Globally, there is significant WiMAX licensing activity, with the lion’s share of spectrum being allocated in the 3.5-GHz bands. Much of the activity is occurring in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and part of Asia-Pacific. Debate continues regarding WiMAX licensing in markets such as China and India, but mature markets such as Korea are focused on the early adoption of mobile WiMAX technology under Wireless Broadband (WiBro), which is touted as a early market profile of 802.16e technology. In North America, Sprint’s announcement to aggressively roll out mobile WiMAX (802.16e) has bolstered overall industry confidence in the future of WiMAX in mature markets. As with Korea Telecom, Sprint plans to capitalize on mobile WiMAX technology with the goal of proliferating broadband services on consumer electronic devices.

WiMAX subscribers will increase worldwide from 3.40 million to 27 million between 2006 and 2011. This forecast includes both 802.16e, and pre-802.16e subscribers, which use proprietary broadband and wireless access and 802.16.2004 technologies. By 2011, of the total number of WiMAX subscribers, 25.10 million will be using 802.16e.

International network infrastructure investments for WiMAX will increase from $550 million in 2006 to $3.90 billion in 2010 as service provider deployments accelerate. The network implementations of WiMAX will differ from those of traditional telecom networks, with the differences being low-cost, IP-centric transport architectures and a design emphasis on the delivery of media and applications as opposed to traditional communications.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. WiMAX Market Analysis Methodology
III. WiMAX Infrastructure Equipment Forecast
IV. WiMAX Subscriber Forecast: Sprint’s WiMAX Deployment Plans Bolster North American Market; Asia-Pacific Tells a Tale of Many Markets; EMEA’s Growth Is Mainly in Emerging Marke; Modest Optimism for the Caribbean and Latin America
V. Conclusions: Recommendations for Equipment Vendors and Their Investors; Recommendations for Service Providers and Their Investors; Recommendations for Enterprises and SMEs in Emerging and Mature Markets
VI. Further Reading

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