WiMAX Indian users to touch 21 mn

Bangalore: According to a study conducted by Maravedis and Tonse Telecom, the total number of WiMAX subscribers in India may touch the 21-million mark by 2014

Leading telecom market research and analyst firm Maravedis, in partnership with Tonse Telecom, released the second Edition of "INDIA Wireless Broadband and WiMAX Market Analysis and Forecasts 2007-2014" providing detailed review of regulatory challenges and overall wireless/WiMAX market trends in India.

"Operators are unwilling to wait--2008 may become the 'Year of Wireless Broadband' in India and fulfill the expectations anticipated in 2007," said Sridhar Pai, co-author of the report and founder of Tonse Telecom.

Maravedis estimates up to 21 million WiMAX subscribers in India by 2014. According to the report, the steady CPE price reduction significantly impacted the potential ARPU, favorably changing the market perspective. "Companies like Telsima reduced the CPE price by 50 per cent as early as Q2-2007.

Consequently, carriers like Reliance, started commercial services in Bangalore and has RFPs on the way, but there are more large-scale deployments to come," said Adlane Fellah, CEO of Maravedis.

"If some of the larger projects go through, we estimate that in the next 12 months, about 10,000--12,000 base stations sectors and 500,000 CPEs will be sold in India" said Pai. "Given the bulk discounts expected by operators, the CPE/BS for 2008 may reach $50 to $120 million. A substantial jump over the previous year and could be just the beginning of what might become one of the world's top three WiMAX markets," added Fellah.

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