WiMAX Forum predicts 19 million India subscribers by 2012

The WiMAX Forum has issued several predictions for the Indian WiMAX market. The combined equipment and service revenues are projected to be worth $13 billion in 2012 and capture 19 million WiMAX subscribers, or 20% of the world's WiMAX user base. The industry trade group cited the commercial availability of WiMAX technologies, affordable device price-points and government support for additional spectrum auctions as proof-points for the forecasts.

Broad availability of affordable mobile technology in India will have a tremendous positive effect on the nation's economy. "India currently has only 4.5 million broadband users out of a population of 1.2 billion people," said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of WiMAX Forum. According to Indian government figures provided by the trade group, the Indian economy is currently growing at 9% year-over-year. The country is witnessing 8~10 million additional mobile phone subscribers every month. The WiMAX group predicts that widespread access to broadband will greatly increase economic productivity by laying the groundwork for important initiatives, such as distance learning, telemedicine and e-government.

In support of India's potential, WiMAX Forum is in the early stages of planning a WiMAX Applications Lab at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. The lab follows existing partnerships in Taiwan and the United States. Application labs provide content developers a sandbox to trial service and distribution concepts on a WiMAX network before adoption on operational carrier networks.

Serious work remains to see WiMAX or any mobile broadband technology succeed at connecting the citizens of India. What is the monthly ARPU (average revenue per user) that establishes a sustainable service provider? How cheap must devices be to make them accessible and functional? Are there applications and services that compel the mainstream population to adopt? More time is needed to answer these questions and understand how subscribers shift consumption of information from neighborhood Internet cafes to personal mobile solutions.
Resource - WiMAX Forum