Highlights of the TIA Market Review Press Conference

Exclusive from Alan J Weissberger.

TIA invited selected media members to what turned out to be a very informative conference call on the status of the telecom market. The purpose was to promote the release of TIA’s 2006 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast book. A few (Wimax-specific) highlights are presented here.

While TIA forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 9.0% for the U.S. telecom market for the period 2006-2009, they imply that this is predicated on a "clear need" to increase federal funding levels for telecom research. TIA expects government agencies such as NIST and NSF to realize huge funding increases as a result of the President’s proposed budget.

Wireless technologies continue to flourish and drive industry investment. 3G network investments are in full swing with roll outs emerging. WiMAX is set to become a larger factor as WiMAX Forum product certifications continue. This June the FCC is scheduled to auction off 90 megahertz of prime, globally harmonized spectrum for advanced wireless services. This includes the spectrum converted from federal use that TIA worked very hard to help secure. They are very excited about the new network build outs and upgrades that will result. TIA expects wireless subscriber growth to slow in percentage terms to 8.5% annually this year. Penetration will increase from 66% in 2005 to 88% in 2009. Revenue will grow at 11.2% annually fueled by 3G, new applications, more services.

International Wireless Markets: TIA sees wireless as a catalyst for growth (GDP). They believe there is enormous potential for expansion, particularly in China and India. Those two countries alone will add more than 400 million wireless subscribers during the next four years. Except for Europe, where the subscriber base is saturated, each region will average double-digit annual growth