Report: WiMax subscribers to hit 50 million by 2014
The number of people grabbing their Internet access through WiMax is expected to jump to 50 million by 2014, says Juniper Research.
A report released Tuesday by the British research firm describes the growth in WiMax stemming from areas unreachable or unserved by broadband cable or DSL.
(Credit:
Juniper Research)
WiMax is a wireless technology that delivers broadband speeds over the last mile, ideal for locations where cabling is not available or feasible. Faster than current wireless 3G technology, WiMax can also serve large metropolitan areas as it covers a wider area than conventional Wi-Fi.
Referenced in the report, the most advanced WiMax standard, WiMAX 802.16e, delivers greater throughput than other WiMax standards.
Though large-scale WiMax deployments have been delayed, many providers have so far been successful in countries ranging from Pakistan to the U.S., says Juniper.
The new 4G Clearwire wireless networks used by Sprint, Comcast, and other providers, runs over WiMax.
But WiMax faces an uphill climb against the competing wireless broadband standard Long Term Evolution, or LTE. A recent study by research firm In-Stat, predicted that WiMax may ultimately lose the battle against LTE, which is already backed by major telcos AT&T and Verizon.
Juniper Research, however, believes that the global deployment of WiMax will drive its growth. The larger number of WiMax subscribers will be in the Far East and China region, says the report, due to that area's early adoption of the technology.
WiMax gains in Western Europe and, to a lesser degree North America, will occur in areas underserved by DSL. Growth in Africa and the Middle East is likely to surpass that of Western Europe, says Juniper, gaining 15 percent of the overall WiMax subscriber base by 2014.
"WiMAX 16e will have opportunities not just in developing countries, but also areas of developed countries where the DSL coverage is weak or nonexistent," said Howard Wilcox, the author of the report. "The key for the industry ecosystem now is to overcome the challenges and ensure trials evolve into commercial services quickly."
More information about WiMax can be found here.
Lance Whitney wears a few different technology hats--journalist, Web developer, and software trainer. He's a contributing editor for Microsoft TechNet Magazine and writes for other computer publications and Web sites. You can follow Lance on Twitter at @lancewhit. Lance is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and he is not an employee of CNET. 
Whats sad though is, none of these competitors are not innovating or focusing on delivering value or bringing high speed Internet to the masses. The prices from Claro for instance for their 3G broad band is ridiculous, $3,500 per month (US $39). Sorry, but Jamaica will always remain a lousy techno freak if they continue to have providers whose only purpose is to see how much they can suck out of consumers while delivering a poor quality service. LIME, drop your prices on GPRS, its a lousy service that I am paying too much for $1,750 (US $19) per month for 5 KBs per second.
- by Wi-Fi Man July 28, 2009 10:32 AM PDT
- Yeah, that's what they said in 2005. I don't buy it. It took 6 years for device manufacturers and carriers to agree on Wi-Fi. I have hard time believing they can all agree on Wimax standards in 5 years. LTE has a better shot of getting any traction.
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- by gerrrg July 28, 2009 11:15 AM PDT
- Well, since 802.16e is the standard that is being deployed by Clearwire, it's fair to say that the standard has been in place for some time. And, a number of products have already been certified, including the Motorola modem that I'm using to receive my 3Mbps service, which is usually running closer to 4Mbps than 3.
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- by Wi-Fi Man July 28, 2009 12:32 PM PDT
- gerryg. I agree, but where are the numbers? I don't see it happening by 2014.
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