WiMAX Operators Chart Out 4G Plans

Sixteen WiMAX (News - Alert) operators from across the globe gathered in Taipei this week to draft roaming agreements and bring consumers one step closer to true global roaming on 4G networks.

The meeting came after Informa Telecoms & Media stated that it expects the global roaming revenues to grow by 86 percent over the next five years to reach $67 billion in 2015.

The WiMAX Forum (News - Alert) stated that a total of 592 telecoms carriers in 149 countries were planning to launch the high-speed networks.

According to a recent report from Infonetics Research, in 12 months – frοm 2009 tο 2010 – th? number οf WiMAX subscribers worldwide more th?n doubled, from three million to 7.5 million.

It is believed that over th? long term, developing countries such ?? India, China, Indonesia, Brazil, ?nd Mexico are likely to turn out to be high-growth markets for WiMAX.

In November 2010, th? WiMAX Forum reported th?t 587 WiMAX networks were being deployed in 148 countries, and 150 WiMAX trials were under progress.

Ron Resnick (News - Alert), president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum, said the operators had gathered to explore ways to help operators grow revenue.  “WiMAX has an established ecosystem with nearly 600 deployments around the world. The opportunity for operators to offer their customers roaming is there, and it is an excellent way for operators to add another viable revenue stream and earn returns on their 4G network investments.”

Among those represented at the summit include Sprint Nextel, Packet One Networks, KT Telecom, LG Electronics (News - Alert), Media Tek Inc., Mformation, Motorola and ITRI of Taiwan.