WiMax doing better than expected
18-09-2009
A slew of incoming indicators show that Wimax, dismissed as a niche technology by proponents of rival 4G technology LTE, is actually doing quite well, thank you.
ABI Research reports that starting from a small base, WiMax posted the highest rate of growth of all wireless access technologies for Q2 09. "WiMAX achieved a whopping 74 per cent growth compared to the previous quarter" says Jake Saunders, VP for forecasting at ABI Research. "The installed base of WiMAX stood at a little over 30 lakh subscriptions, but it is a sign that the battle for the $G market is not an automatic victory for LTE." Both 802.16d and 802.16e are included in these statistics, to represent the total base of WiMAX subscribers
WiMax chipmaker Beceem Communications revealed that it shipped more than 1 million mobile WiMax chipsets in the third quarter alone and is on target to ship more than 1 million chips in the fourth quarter. Chipset sales always precede device sales by a few quarters, and if Beceem's third-quarter sales results are an indicator, a flood of WiMax devices could hit the market soon. Among the reasons for this: UQ Communications launched in Japan in July, and Clearwire and Sprint have "been very aggressive" in the view of Lars Johnsson, VP Business Development Beceem.
Motorola, which uses Beceem chips in many of its laptop cards and residential modems, shipped its 1 millionth device in recent weeks, doubling its total in just six months.
Johnsson estimates the total market for IEEE 802.16e mobile WiMax chips to fall between 3.5 million and 4 million, which might seem small when compared to the cellular markets but represents a huge leap forward for WiMax.
The WiMax device market has been dominated by PC cards and residential gateways, which is what Beceem and Motorola focus on today. The other major device category in WiMax has been embedded laptops, a chip market dominated by Intel.
Bruce Brda, general manager of Motorola's wireless networks business, told a metting at 4G World meeting that while LTE had a large base of mobile operator supporters, WiMax has been endorsed by a diverse group of new entrants to wireless broadband, using WiMax for many different purposes.
A specific example he pointed to was SP AusNet, an Australian energy company leading the drive for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) on the smart grid. The company opted to use WiMax because of the reach it provided for its plans to upgrade 600,000 homes and businesses. In Malaysia, REDTone used it to make broadband accessible to everyone. In Mexico, Axtel is using it primarily for VoIP and high-speed broadband data. Unwired in Fiji is pushing educational resources into remote areas over WiMax. And, in the US, Northern Michigan University is using WiMax for its students and the community at large.
Both LTE and WiMax are viable options, he added, and they will end up co-existing. "WiMax has too much momentum...There are over 500 proponents today, many without LTE. There are nearly 500 products across 88 vendors available today".
ABI Research reports that starting from a small base, WiMax posted the highest rate of growth of all wireless access technologies for Q2 09. "WiMAX achieved a whopping 74 per cent growth compared to the previous quarter" says Jake Saunders, VP for forecasting at ABI Research. "The installed base of WiMAX stood at a little over 30 lakh subscriptions, but it is a sign that the battle for the $G market is not an automatic victory for LTE." Both 802.16d and 802.16e are included in these statistics, to represent the total base of WiMAX subscribers
WiMax chipmaker Beceem Communications revealed that it shipped more than 1 million mobile WiMax chipsets in the third quarter alone and is on target to ship more than 1 million chips in the fourth quarter. Chipset sales always precede device sales by a few quarters, and if Beceem's third-quarter sales results are an indicator, a flood of WiMax devices could hit the market soon. Among the reasons for this: UQ Communications launched in Japan in July, and Clearwire and Sprint have "been very aggressive" in the view of Lars Johnsson, VP Business Development Beceem.
Motorola, which uses Beceem chips in many of its laptop cards and residential modems, shipped its 1 millionth device in recent weeks, doubling its total in just six months.
Johnsson estimates the total market for IEEE 802.16e mobile WiMax chips to fall between 3.5 million and 4 million, which might seem small when compared to the cellular markets but represents a huge leap forward for WiMax.
The WiMax device market has been dominated by PC cards and residential gateways, which is what Beceem and Motorola focus on today. The other major device category in WiMax has been embedded laptops, a chip market dominated by Intel.
Bruce Brda, general manager of Motorola's wireless networks business, told a metting at 4G World meeting that while LTE had a large base of mobile operator supporters, WiMax has been endorsed by a diverse group of new entrants to wireless broadband, using WiMax for many different purposes.
A specific example he pointed to was SP AusNet, an Australian energy company leading the drive for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) on the smart grid. The company opted to use WiMax because of the reach it provided for its plans to upgrade 600,000 homes and businesses. In Malaysia, REDTone used it to make broadband accessible to everyone. In Mexico, Axtel is using it primarily for VoIP and high-speed broadband data. Unwired in Fiji is pushing educational resources into remote areas over WiMax. And, in the US, Northern Michigan University is using WiMax for its students and the community at large.
Both LTE and WiMax are viable options, he added, and they will end up co-existing. "WiMax has too much momentum...There are over 500 proponents today, many without LTE. There are nearly 500 products across 88 vendors available today".
