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March 26, 2008
BWA/WiMAX Subscriber Base on the Rise
By Tim Gray, TMCnet Web Editor
The global BWA/WiMAX subscriber base increased by 350,000 in the fourth quarter of 2007, reaching a total of 1,728,000 subscribers, according to the latest WiMAXCounts Quarterly Report from Maravedis (News - Alert).
“Even with an increase of more than 20 percent in WiMAX subscribers in the last quarter of 2007, operators are still waiting for the tipping point that will lead to acceleration of WiMAX adoption and deployments,” said Adlane Fellah (News - Alert), CEO and founder of Maravedis.
Many operators are holding back their network expansion pending the mobile WiMAX 802.16e equipment certification, which was postponed to the second half of 2008. Mobile WiMAX (News - Alert) is a key enabler of a wider range of value-added services and product flexibility, according to Fellah.
“The key factors mainly centre on; certification of mobile WiMAX equipment, a reduction in CPE pricing and the emergence of a device ecosystem,” said Fellah.
Over 800,000 subscribers were using WiMAX Forum Certified technology at year-end 2007 and out of all CPEs deployed, 29 percent were based on 802.16-2004, 11.7 pecent were based on 802.16-2005, 55 percent were based on proprietary technologies, and 3.8 percent remained undisclosed, according to the study.
“We are already seeing these tipping points in India, Pakistan, Africa, and we expect other emerging, heavily populated regions to be spurred by lower device pricing, which in turn will drive equipment volume ramp-up during 2009-2010”, said Robert Syputa (News - Alert), Maravedis Partner and Senior Analyst.
The Middle East and Africa region has the highest residential ARPU at $50.04, while offering significantly lower speeds than other regions. The average number of subscribers per operator was 12,098 for Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) and 5,407 for Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) in Q4 2007.
WiMAX service revenues equated to $1 billion in 2007, with recorded Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) of $46.30 for residential and $144.09 for business subscribers.
The Middle East and Africa region has the highest residential ARPU at $50.04, while offering significantly lower speeds than other regions.
The average number of subscribers per operator was 12,098 for Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) and 5,407 for Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) in Q4 2007.
Tim Gray is a Web Editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To see more of his articles, please visit Tim Gray’s columnist page.
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Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) | X | | As a sister technology to Wi-Fi, the IEEE 802.16 specification outlines technology for Wireless Metro Area Network (MAN). WiMAX actually stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, whi...more |
802.16 (WiMAX) | X | | As a sister technology to Wi-Fi, the IEEE 802.16 specification outlines technology for Wireless Metro Area Network (MAN). WiMAX actually stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, whi...more |
Internet Protocol (IP) | X | | IP stands for Internet Protocol, a data-networking protocol developed throughout the 1980s. It is the established standard protocol for transmitting and receiving data
in packets over the Internet. I...more |
(source: http://internetcommunications.tmcnet.com/topics/broadband-mobile/articles/23848-bwawimax-subscriber-base-the-rise.htm)
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