Asia Pacific may hold 44% of WiMAX market by 2009

February 11, 2006

As per the latest market research report “WiMAX Market Forecast (2006-2010)” by RNCOS, the subscriber base in the Asia Pacific region is expected to cross the 80,000 mark in 2005 and swell to over 3.78 million subscribers through 2009. WiMAX subscribers in the Asia Pacific region would constitute 44% of the worldwide subscribers by 2009.

The leading cellular service provider and mobile handset manufacturing company Alcatel is taking various measures to consolidate its position in the Indian handset market. Alcatel is going to utilize its wireless technology for providing high-speed telecommunications all over the world. It is also going to increasingly shift its major portion of R&D activities to India and China.

The implementation of WiMAX networks may be impeded due to the regional variations in spectrum regulations and competition from other new emerging mobile technologies.

The report gives an in depth analysis of the equipment revenue and unit sales forecasts for the South East Asian region through 2009. It reveals that South Korea is expected to provide the highest regional WiMAX equipment income of 41% in 2009, followed by China at 33% and Japan at a mere 18%. High average revenue per unit (ARPU) resulting from a large subscriber base developed by competitive wireless service providers, will assign the highest WiMAX service revenue to South Korea in 2009.

WiMAX and its different versions will provide high speed connectivity at speeds up to 70Mb/s over a range of 31 miles around the point of access. WiMAX is primarily built around broadband data, rather than voice, while 3G is primarily build around voice, with support for data services. Third generation (3G) cellular networks, such as GSM which are being rolled out worldwide, allows accessing the Internet at the speeds of up to 2Mb/s. The analysts are of the opinion that WiMAX equipment expenditure in the Asia Pacific region will amount to $2.0 billion by 2009. Existing mobile operators who want to provide broadband data and voice services could also utilize the technology.