WiMAX wireless broadband has the potential to grow rapidly yet it remains at a crossroads because it faces serious competition from other technologies, according to a study released Monday by market research firm Maravedis.
"Wireless broadband is clearly at a crossroads," Robert Syputa, co-author and senior analyst for Maravedis, said in a statement. "Convergence is taking place between the technology road maps of WiMAX/802.16 and advanced 3GPP, 3.5G-4G cellular systems. These technologies are on a collision course and will provide similar bandwidth and significant market overlap by 2010."
One problem facing WiMAX is the cost of customer premises equipment, which is the component needed for customers to receive the fixed version of WiMAX that will start being available later this year, according to the other co-author of the report, Adlane Fellah.
"The top two pre-requisites for WiMAX success according to service providers surveyed is a CPE below $300 and higher throughput," Fellah said.
In addition, WiMAX as a technology faces serious competition from other wireless broadband technologies such as TD-CDMA and 802.20. The report said that market acceptance of WiMAX in the next two years will tell a lot about the long-term success of WiMAX.
Further, mobile WiMAX must be widely accepted if the overall technology is to succeed -- initial versions of WiMAX will provide only fixed access. However, mobile WiMAX may strain the available spectrum in a number of countries, the study said.
