WiMAX explores emerging markets

12 Mar 2009

According to Rick Rogers, director at Alvarion, more people require high-speed internet services. Deploying wireline access networks such as DSL or cable modem involves relatively high investment costs and results in limited or insufficient coverage by wireline infrastructures with limited capacity. The WiMAX market seeks to provide a wireless access solution.

In June 2008 the WiMAX Forum announced the completion of the first round of Mobile WiMAX Wave II certification for base stations and devices in the 2.5GHz frequency band. Alvarion was one the first three vendors with commercially-available base stations to receive certification, along with seven device manufacturers.

According to Rogers, WiMAX is targeting two markets - primary broadband services and personal broadband. The primary broadband and voice services market targets rural/remote areas in both the developing world and developed areas. WiMAX offers a solution to rural remote areas, considered less economical by providers to offer broadband and voice services. For developed areas, WiMAX offers an alternative to DSL, allowing operators to offer fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) of networks and services. For the personal broadband market, WiMAX is targeting more densely-populated areas such as metro centres and suburbs, providing the opportunity to mobilise broadband connections by offering a DSL service, with mobility, handover and roaming services.

"In emerging markets, the lack of a developed communications infrastructure is dramatically reducing the ability of achieving or strengthening economic development, improving social well being and enhancing personal communications. With broadband access services, local populations may be empowered with communication capabilities which provide the information to strengthen social, economical, educational, and health trends. In the emerging markets, where little infrastructure is available yet economies are growing, WiMAX based communications networks can promote equal opportunity communications, " says Rogers.

WiMAX seeks to represent an opportunity in the fixed/portable broadband market in emerging markets. In the mobile broadband market, the opportunity is expected to be much larger, allowing entry of new challengers into the mobile broadband arena and enabling a shift towards multiple devices per subscriber permitting operators to move beyond the one-subscriber, one-ARPU, one-device model.