Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola lead in mobile WiMAX, says Infonetics report
Double-digit quarterly growth forecasted for the balance of 2008 and 110 million users predicted by 2011.
Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola lead in mobile WiMAX, according to a new market report from Infonetics Research. The study found that the pair increased market share of equipment revenues from 50% to 66% over the past ninety days. For stationary and fixed WiMAX equipment, the report gave the top pick to Alvarion with 25% of the worldwide equipment revenue market.
While the combined worldwide equipment revenues were up only 3% from Q1'2008 to $402 million, Infonetics predicts that the balance of 2008 will see double-digit sequential growth. By 2011, 110 million users of WiMAX technologies are forecasted.
Infonetics attributes the Alcatel-Lucent growth to a significant shipment of ASN Gateways in the quarter. The gateways manage mobility functions of 802.16e-2005 networks, enabling base stations to communicate with each other. Gateways can be vendor-agnostic, just like base stations and subscriber devices interoperate between multiple vendors. Alcatel-Lucent has had success with selling gateways to both its base station customers as well as competitors. WiMAX Forum specifies the interfaces used by ASN Gateways.
A few more statistics from the report:
- More than 200 networks are now being deployed and more than 100 other trials are in progress; the market will be increasingly driven by more Tier 1 operators entering the market
- Developing countries are the engine for WiMAX market growth, with Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Central and Latin America, and parts of the Asia Pacific being hot-beds of activity
- In particular, India, Russia and Brazil are fast-moving markets with numerous active WiMAX operators and large populations and market conditions to give potential for strong growth
- The number of fixed and mobile WiMAX subscribers topped 2 million worldwide in 2007 and is expected to triple by the end of 2008
The Infonetics report tracks the equipment shipments from thirteen equipment manufacturers along with Wi-Fi mesh network equipment providers.
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