3G and Mobile WiMAX to Lead the Wireless Broadband Market by 2012

(Business News & Technology News, 11 Jan 2008)

3G cellular (HSPA and EV-DO) and mobile WiMAX are the technologies that will serve the majority of the 2012 mobile wireless broadband market, but High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE) or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) will also be available then, according to Carter L. Horney, principal author of the latest study, "WiMAX '08: The 3G+ Broadband Alternative," by market research firm Forward Concepts.

Other key findings of the researd include:
- WIMAX, variously as fixed or mobile services, will bring broadband access services to rural and undeveloped regions of the world.
- WIMAX growth in India will be strong and will precede 3G rollouts.
- WIMAX will become large in China, but on the heels of 3G TD-SCDMA.
- If mobile WiMAX can supplement existing cellular networks as an overlay, it will become a mainstream technology.

Will Strauss, Forward Concepts' President and editor of the report, said, "High profile cellular operators that have put their weight behind Mobile WiMAX include Sprint Nextel in the U.S., Rogers in Canada, KDDI and Softbank in Japan, and Telefonica in both Spain and Latin America."

The study also notes that the supporting ecosystem is growing, for example:
- Over 200 Operators are deploying WiMAX, worldwide.
- Over 30 companies are supplying WiMAX infrastructure equipment.
- Over 16 companies are providing WiMAX client equipment.
- Over 19 companies offer 802.16e MAC/PHY baseband chip sets
- Over 15 companies are now offer WiMAX radio transceiver chips

Click here for more information