India potential developing IT market for Wimax

New Delhi, May 15: Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wimax), a wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances, today said it is aggressively looking to tap vast areas of the Indian rural population.

''In this digital age, broadband has become a necessity for commerce, industry, educationa and entertainment to exist. Wimax will be a key catalyst in transforming the economic landscape in India, which offers a huge market potential for us,'' Wimax Forum India Liaison and Regional Director Sunil Kumar told reporters here.

Wimax is a good vehicle for enabling broadband to not only high density urban areas, but vast areas of rural population as well, and India can use this technology to leapfrog to 4G technology.

''We at the forum will be working closely with regulators and other government bodies to ensure there is a viable environment in terms of spectrum and other licensing mechanisms and we are committed in our efforts to ensure that Wimax is fully realsied in India,'' Mr Kumar said.

On why the forum chose India, Mr Kumar said, ''With the fast growing economy, and the huge demand for broadband, India is poised to become the single largest Wimax market in the world.'' Wimax is a certification mark for products that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 802.16 standards, and can be used for a number of applications, including 'last mile' broadband connections, hotspots and cellular backhaul, and high-speed enterprise connectivity for business.

Products that pass the conformity tests for WiMAX are capable of forming wireless connections between them to permit the carrying of internet packet data. It permits usage over much greater distances.

UNI