The top 22 operators worldwide will contribute nearly 2.5 million subscribers by the end of 2009 and close to 4 million by the end of 2010 according to the latest research report from Maravedis.
Although the top 22 WiMAX operators enjoy the support of strong investor groups and deep pockets to offset limited credit facilities, they are still impacted by the financial crisis. Given the current global economic uncertainty, wireless capital expenditures by most of the top WiMAX operators are predicted to slow down in 2009. “Furthermore, some operators are feeling pressure from not having the right spectrum or sufficient spectrum to achieve their deployment plans,” added Basharat Ashai, co-author of the report.
“It is important to keep in mind that WiMAX Technology is just now entering a phase of commercial availability that makes volume applications, including machine to machine, utility monitoring, metro-wide mobile broadband and embedded consumer applications feasible. In addition, the lean WiMAX ecosystem has already reached price points for ICs, modules and devices to compete in volume markets,” noted Robert Syputa, Partner & Senior Analyst.
Key findings
- 47% of current networks account for less than 10,000 subscribers
- 75% of operators have more than 10 million POP covered
- Operators are generating an average ARPU of US$35 for residential services and US$93 for business services
- 33% of operators use only microwave radios for their backhaul
- 52% plan to deploy femtocells in the next 24 months
Operators selected for the report enjoy two key conditions: they have deep enough pockets to deploy major wimax networks and have access to sufficient spectrum to be profitable in the long term. In fact 46% of operators interviewed have 50MHz or more of spectrum, while 45% have more than US$100 million in cash. These operators include obvious names such as Clearwire, and also operators who currently enjoy a relatively small subscriber base, but for whom Maravedis believes there is great potential, such as Scartel (Russia). Other such “strategic” operators include: UQ Communications (Japan), Far EasTone (Taiwan), BSNL (India) and Telmex International.… Read the rest
