Mobile WiMAX equipment revenues nearly quadruped in the third quarter of 2008 (compared to the third quarter of 2007), as carriers around the world began to invest significantly in the technology.
“With LTE still a couple of years away, WiMAX has, in fact, become the first next generation technology with commercial service,” noted Scott Siegler, a senior analyst with the Dell’Oro Group. “Mobile WiMAX revenues were very strong in the third quarter of last year, and we anticipate revenue for the fourth quarter to set another record.”
But the apparent head start enjoyed by WiMAX providers could be threatened by ongoing economic woes, according to the Dell’Oro Group’s report.
“As we look into 2009, we expect the WiMAX market to be hit rather hard by the economic downturn,” Siegler said. “Building out brand new networks from scratch requires tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars of capital. Compounding the tightening in the credit markets, the increasing cost of capital and the decrease in demand for broadband data as consumer spending weakens, we anticipate many network buildouts will be put on hold or delayed into 2010. With initial LTE rollouts coming in the 2010 to 2011 timeframe, these delays will shorten the time to market advantage WiMAX currently has over LTE.”
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