According to a report from Wireless Broadband and WiMAX market research and analysis firm Maravedis, the global BWA/WiMAX subscriber base increased by more than 200,000 in the first quarter of 2008, reaching nearly 2 million subscribers worldwide. But the firm still sees WiMAX operators waiting for a real rise in subscribers.
“Even with an increase of more than 19% in WiMAX subscribers in the first quarter of 2008, operators are still waiting for the tipping point that will lead to acceleration of WiMAX adoption and deployments,” said Adlane Fellah, CEO and founder of Maravedis, in a statement. “The key factors mainly center on certification of mobile WiMAX equipment, a reduction in CPE pricing and the emergence of a device ecosystem.”
Cintia Garza, co-author of the WiMAXCounts Quarterly Report, added: “Many operators have held back their network expansion pending the mobile WiMAX 802.16e equipment certification, which was announced in June 2008. Mobile WiMAX is a key enabler of a wider range of value-added services and product flexibility.”
The report found that of the 264 operators tracked in WiMAXCounts, about 50% of them are providing only high-speed Internet services. The remaining carriers are offering additional applications, such as VoIP, video or VPN services. Maravedis expects the majority of carriers will offer one or more additional services in the next two or three years.
The quarterly report also found that Clearwire remains the top operator in terms of subscribers, with an estimated 443,000 subscribers in the United States at the end of Q1 2008. And Motorola remains the leader in equipment deployed for both BWA/WiMAX CPEs.