Despite licensing delays that slowed the progress of WiMax in India, deployments are now accelerating and India remains the biggest single hope for revenue and global influence for WiMax.
So says a report released by communications market research firm Infonetics Research.
After India, Infonetics expects Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Brazil to lead in WiMax uptake, with the number of WiMax subscribers in each of these regions doubling to tripling each year through at least 2011.
The report revealed that sales of fixed and mobile WiMax network equipment, such as ASN gateways, base stations, CPE, and NICs are likewise forecast to skyrocket in these regions.
"In populous countries with poor national telecom infrastructure, such as India, Brazil, and Africa, there is a lack of broadband services, and even basic voice services, which is a significant driver for WiMax adoption," says Richard Webb, directing analyst at Infonetics for WiMax.
"In many developing countries, with India being the prime example, WiMax is showing promising signs of becoming the primary broadband infrastructure and a prominent 3G mobile technology," he says.
"According to the research, India is absolutely critical to the fortunes of WiMax, and the level of uptake there will help decide how prominent a position 802.16e takes in the overall wireless landscape in the next decade," he says.
The number of mobile WiMax subscribers in Brazil is forecast to skyrocket from fewer than a thousand in 2007, to 3.6 million in 2011, a compound annual growth rate of 940%, Webb concludes.
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