3G-4G Wireless Subscriptions Set To Increase
Posted on March 19th, 2009 by Mike Sachoff in the Articles section
At the end of 2008, only 11 percent of global wireless subscriptions were 3G. By the end of 2013, the percentage of 3G and 4G subscriptions will reach 30 percent, according to In-Sat.
Going forward, WiMAX will have to prove itself over the next couple of years with the rise of HSPA and LTE. In-Stat says mobile WiMAX will be popular in developing countries and remote locations where fixed broadband networks are not yet deployed. It’s still not clear if mobile WiMAX will be competitive in locations with existing 3G cellular and fixed broadband networks.
“Based on contract awards, WiMAX deployments are remaining resilient in the face of the economic slowdown, although some operators are slowing the deployment rate,” says Daryl Schoolar, In-Stat analyst.
“The WiMAX equipment heavyweights of Alcatel-Lucent, Alvarion, Motorola and Samsung are benefitting from the trend. Other vendors to watch include Cisco, Huawei and ZTE.”
802.16e, the mobile standard for WiMAX, has been mainly deployed for fixed and nomadic services. Clearwire, Korea Telecom, and UQ of Japan are among the few exceptions that are embracing 802.16e for mobile data applications.
Tags: WiMAX |