Will WiMAX Investments Reach $30 Billion this Year?
WiMAX Day thinks so. Many have cited 2008 as the year for WiMAX. In fact, WiMAX topped several lists as a promising technology for the new year. The buzz about WiMAX may very well inspire more interest and more investments in the technology. WiMAX Day compares WiMAX to where GSM was ten years ago and estimates $30 billion in investments based on deployment of new networks, mergers and acquisitions, acquiring more spectrum, and other facets. According to the article:
“With all the spectrum up for grabs, we think 20 to 30 new WiMAX networks can pop up in the next year,” said an analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York. “There’s no average size for investment, but some of these can enter the hundreds of millions [of dollars] to billions, gauging from recent RFPs issued to vendors.”
These figures do not include what Sprint is putting into WiMAX this year, or the KDDI-Intel venture in Japan. As more capital enters the WiMAX industry, some of the projected growth for this year may very well start to take shape. More details on the specific numbers for 2008 will be released by WiMAX Day later this year.
wirefreedom said,
Wrote on January 24, 2008 @ 10:01 am
Hi Ari, Do you think this is over optimistic or likely to happen.
It always worth looking at the numbers and the big picture. Clearly WiMAX has some challenges, but it also has some advantages
what do you think?
Ari Zoldan said,
Wrote on January 24, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
It is a very optimistic figure. I think this is more about what sort of year this is going to be for WiMAX. If it pans out that this is going to be the year for executing plans made in previous years and for companies to act on previous investments, then a big boost for 2008 will be seen. Thirty billion definitely is the most optimistic number I’ve seen though, and I’d be cautious to put all my weight behind it.