BWA / WiMAX Subscribers Reaches 3.5 Million Worldwide
BWA / WiMAX Subscribers Reaches 3.5 Million Worldwide
14th July , 2009
Canada : Approximately 400,000 BWA/WiMAX subscribers and 50 million new active 3G subscribers were added in Q1 2009, according to the latest quarterly report published by Maravedis as part of its leading 4GCounts subscription service.
“2008 was a difficult year for WiMAX and during Q1 2009, the slowdown continued as operators watched their wallets closely in order to survive the downturn,” noted Cintia Garza, co-author of the report.
“There is some room for optimism: despite the economic slowing, BWA/WiMAX has proven that it is a viable alternative for access in underserved markets and as a broadband overlay. WiMAX suppliers say that they offer a low cost way to deliver network service most needed now: that waiting for LTE is lost opportunity and overkill of network complexity and cost. An emerging message from operators is the choice of network technology is less important so long as it serves their purpose.” Robert Syputa commented.
The quarterly report also explores the motivations for 3G operators to invest in LTE and what challenges they will face when adopting this technology. “Our research reveals that 37% of operators consider LTE as their best option available today to address the need for higher bandwidth services and capacity, while 15% believe LTE will give them added flexibility to use different spectrum bands,” said report co-author Basharat Ashai.
THIS QUARTER’S SUMMARY FINDINGS
- 28% of operators pointed to technological delays as the main challenge for adopting LTE; 24% revealed that interoperability between the LTE vendors is a concern; 10% pointed to the lack of spectrum/delayed auctions as a challenge.
- Q1 2009 recorded WiMAX ARPU was US$42.43 and US$116.82 for residential and business segments respectively, compared to US$42.33 and US$122.64 for the same segments in Q4 2008.
- Out of all CPEs deployed as of Q1 2009, 4GCounts showed 26% were 802.16-2004, 20% were 802.16e-2005, and 54% were vendor proprietary.
4GCounts is a unique web-based service that tracks operator deployments and provides detailed information on the worldwide 4G ecosystem. 4GCounts currently profiles over 200 operators across 92 countries.