Indian WiMax market to be Rs 52,000 cr with 27.5 mln users by 2012

New Delhi, Oct 14 (UNI) Riding high on low cost availability of personal computers, increasing computer literacy and upcoming auctions of spectrum, the domestic WiMax market is projected to be worth Rs 52,000 crore with about 27.5 million users by 2012.

''The Indian Wimax market, including devices will be worth Rs 52,000 crore by 2012. This projection takes into account 27.5 million Wimax users or 19 million subscribers, representing about 20 per cent of the global userbase,'' Wimax Forum India Chairman C S Rao said at a press conference here.

The recent Department of Telecommunications (DoT) announcement of allocating and auctioning WiMax spectrum to the 2.3 and 2.5 frequecny bands will connect millions of customers through this technology, he said.

Since the broadband penetration is low in the country, the opportunity for operators to gain large number of subscribers through WiMax is incredible, he added.

Currenty, India has about 4.5 million broadband users.

In India, he said the PC sales is growing at 25 per cent annually due to low cost availability of the device with a branded personal computer costing about Rs 15-18,000.

Moreover,the computer literacy is picking up very fast in the country as students are taught this science at an early age.

UNI MP SBA SB KP1650