Document Actions
WiMAX Forum predicts 19 million India subscribers by 2012
Availability of spectrum, affordable products and government support cited as primary reasons for success.
The WiMAX Forum has issued several predictions for the Indian WiMAX market.
The combined equipment and service revenues are projected to be worth $13
billion in 2012 and capture 19 million WiMAX subscribers, or 20% of the world's
WiMAX user base. The industry trade group cited the commercial
availability of WiMAX technologies, affordable device price-points and
government support for additional spectrum auctions as proof-points for the
forecasts.
Broad availability of affordable mobile technology in India will have a
tremendous positive effect on the nation's economy. "India currently has
only 4.5 million broadband users out of a population of 1.2 billion people,"
said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of WiMAX Forum. According to
Indian government figures provided by the trade group, the Indian economy is
currently growing at 9% year-over-year. The country is witnessing 8~10
million additional mobile phone subscribers every month. The WiMAX group
predicts that widespread access to broadband will greatly increase economic
productivity by laying the groundwork for important initiatives, such as
distance learning, telemedicine and e-government.
In support of India's potential, WiMAX Forum is in the early stages of planning
a WiMAX Applications Lab at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. The
lab follows existing partnerships in Taiwan and the United States.
Application labs provide content developers a sandbox to trial service and
distribution concepts on a WiMAX network before adoption on operational carrier
networks.
Serious work remains to see WiMAX or any mobile broadband technology succeed at
connecting the citizens of India. What is the monthly ARPU (average
revenue per user) that establishes a sustainable service provider? How cheap
must devices be to make them accessible and functional? Are there applications
and services that compel the mainstream population to adopt? More time is needed
to answer these questions and understand how subscribers shift consumption of
information from neighborhood Internet cafes to personal mobile solutions.
By Jeff Orr, ORR Technology, LLC
_____
tags:
WiMAX Growth in India will hinge on Mobile WiMAX
The fact remains that if WiMAX technology is to break out of its eggshell, it will need to focus on two things: first the development of new generation mobile applications and second the integration with existing Mobile networks as over 300 million users in India alone can not be wished away. Towards this objective the application development Lab which is planned may hold the key.
http://www.wimax-home.com
Possible
Cost
I believe that just as the cellular companies in India are providing the lowest call rates, similarly the WiMax operators will have to provide the lowest cost/MB to survive..
The one thing that Wimax will have over the existing broadband connection is that it will be easy to install.. specially in the areas where the customer has to wait for the cable guy to come and lay the cable for the internet connection...
Doubtful