The WiMAX Forum recently announced plans to set up an applications lab at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi. This will be the third such lab in the world after Taiwan and U.S., and is being established at a time when WiMAX looks set to take off in a big way; projections are that the Indian WiMAX market, including devices, will be worth $ 13 billion by 2012.

 

WiMAX is a commercial technology that is optimized for mobile broadband and it offers a scalable solution for the provision of high-speed broadband internet across India. The advantages seen in the Indian market include broadband performance capabilities, early availability, cost, government support and the upcoming auctions for the 2.3/2.5 GHz frequency bands.

 

Subscribers can access all applications over wired connections along with mobility and portability with WiMAX. The new WiMAX-enabled mobile devices make way for new applications suited for mobile access. WiMAX is especially suitable for real-time applications like VoIP, content streaming, online gaming, and vertical applications such as those for safety and surveillance due to its robust QoS and low latency.

 

The Indian telecom sector is a high volume market and it can form a large broadband wireless market besides supporting an ancillary ecosystem driving employment, development and true sustainability. By 2012 the Indian market will support 27.5 million WiMAX users which form about 20 percent of the global user base.

 

“In India, WiMAX represents a win-win proposition, benefiting both network operators and subscribers at the same time,” said  CS Rao, Chairman for WiMAX Forum’s India chapter, in a statement. “Broadband penetration being low, the opportunity for operators to gain large numbers of subscribers through WiMAX is incredible.”

 

Rao continued: “Any service provider with innovative service offerings, attractive devices and go-to-market plans that maximize the utility offered by WiMAX technology to price-sensitive Indian customers can use this ready and proven technology to quickly gain market share.”

 

Ron Resnick, President and Chairman of the WiMAX Forum said that at present India has only 4.5 million broadband users out of a population of 1.2 billion people. The expected demand for WiMAX-enabled devices is very high and the WiMAX Forum plans to add an Indian certification lab to the network to meet the demand in this region. This will ensure the availability of connected laptops, USB dongles, ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs), mobile handsets and mobile Internet devices (MIDs) in the Indian market.

The WiMAX Forum also predicted that this widespread access to broadband will further boost economic productivity in the country by initiating services like distance learning, telemedicine and e-government.

 

The new regulatory decisions made by India’s Department of Telecommunications for allocating and auctioning WiMAX spectrum to the 2.3 and 2.5 GHz frequency bands includes India among major developed nations, Resnick said.