WiMAX Growth Pegged at 4,500 Percent for 2009

If you’ve followed the WiMAX debate recently, you’ve witnessed points and counterpoints suggesting both that WiMAX is set for exponential growth and that it’s on its last legs. In fact, Rich Tehrani said he feels “like the ringside announcer in the fight between WiMAX and LTE.”

 

Some companies have gotten out of the business (sort of); some have made acquisitions to extend their presence; still others have collaborated with partners to help grow the WiMAX industry as a whole; and yet a fourth group continues to innovate and drive WiMAX forward. 

 

Still, the debate rages over whether WiMAX or LTE has the upper hand now, and which will prevail in the longer term. Only helping to cloud the picture is the fact that several of the moves prominent telecom vendors have made recently (Nortel supposedly exiting, Alcatel-Lucent backing off) really haven’t emerged as expected. In fact, both are now evidently still well in the WiMAX space, focusing primarily on the technology as a wireline broadband substitute rather than a mobile access technology. 

 

Furthermore, WiMAX is already seeing real-world deployments in several corners of the world, while LTE trails significantly in that respect, despite its inherent advantages — it’s being delivered by vendors carriers know and is being pitched as an upgrade instead of a rip and replace/Greenfield deployment.

 

In fact, just a week ago, In-Stat suggested that, while both technologies have a real place in the communications space, WiMAX, at least in the near term, will have a sizable advantage. It predicts that, by 2013, LTE will grow to more than 23 million subscribers, which pales to the 82 million it is predicting for WiMAX-equipped PCs.

 

The latest report from ABI Research is, perhaps, even more profound, given the recessionary economy. It predicts a 4,500 percent increase in WiMAX subscription revenues this year alone. The report is based on a WiMAX model that presents opportunities that exceed the capabilities of traditional mobile networks, particularly data-centric networking in both developed and developing markets.

 

“To ignore a growth market in a down economy would be a mistake,” says ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis.

 

Even though ABI sees a solid opportunity for WiMAX in the short term, it still views LTE as the surpassing it by a wide margin in the long run. That said, the many fixed WiMAX deployments currently being deployed present a future growth opportunity in that they can be adapted for mobile use in the future.

 

So, regardless of which corner you sit in, both WiMAX and LTE are sure to land a few punches as this battle continues — and it’s likely to go the full 15 rounds.

 

Catch every round on the 4G Wireless Evolution site on MobilityTechzone.