Motorola, Trendsmedia Survey Reveals Predictions for WiMAX Applications

November 04, 2005

In a survey conducted by Motorola Inc and Trendsmedia, 45% of respondents predict that the ability to achieve seamless mobility through interoperability among various devices and networks will be the "tipping point" to WiMAX success.

Motorola and Trendsmedia conducted the survey with attendees from WiMAX World, the largest-ever gathering of service providers, equipment manufacturers, operators and software makers meeting to further the understanding and advancement of WiMAX, the wireless broadband technology standard 802.16.

The survey also revealed that more than half of the respondents -- 57% -- believe that the principle reason a service provider would wait for 802.16e instead of deploying 802.16d or proprietary solutions is the technology's ability to support mobility as well as fixed or nomadic services.

More than 50% of survey respondents believe that the most attractive or breakthrough application that will drive this use of WiMAX will be last-mile data connectivity. Although it will be used to quickly bring Internet access to communities that are not yet served, WiMAX also will augment or replace existing cellular and wireline assets. Although some confusion exists on the role the technology will play within existing infrastructures, 63% anticipate that WiMAX will serve as a complementary technology to networks such as 3G and Wi-Fi.

The survey was conducted online with registered show attendees and included 424 respondents. 33% of the participants were service providers, 19% component vendors, 18% system manufacturers, and 30% fell under other organization descriptions.