The European
Commission and several national regulators, including Norway, Sweden,
and the UK, want the situation to change, as does the WiMAX Forum. The
ITU has now also agreed that OFDM-based technologies should be included
in the IMT2000 standard. This will place mobile WiMAX on the same
footing as 3G mobile when it comes to using the 3G extension bands and,
potentially, existing 3G bands.
“This is a good sign for technology neutrality becoming the accepted
approach for spectrum auctions in the future,” says ABI Research analyst
Ian Cox. “Mobile WiMAX products will start to appear in 2007 and can be
used in unpaired spectrum, giving them an opportunity not available to
UMTS.”
Cox further comments that, “Mobile WiMAX could compete in the market
against 3G, HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE, and provide an entry path currently
only available to incumbent operators.”
Meanwhile fixed WiMAX applications are already being deployed to
complement and compete with DSL and cable networks in rural and other
underserved areas, particularly in the new EU member states.
For users, says Cox, WiMAX will enable broadband services, including
VoIP, to be offered over SIP-enabled networks. All services will be
IP-based, offering high data rates and low latency, along with mobile
network data speeds comparable to those of fixed networks.
For vendors, WiMAX will allow development of a new market to replace
declining 3G revenues.
A new ABI Research Brief, “WiMAX in Europe” (http://www.abiresearch.com/products
/research_brief/Mobile_Broadband_Research_Brief/108) reviews the
European market for WiMAX. It examines the current use of 3.5 GHz
spectrum along with the regulatory situation and prospects for the
future. It forms part of ABI Research’s Mobile Broadband Research
Service (http://www.abiresearch.com/products /service/Mobile_Broadband_Research_Service),
which also includes Research Reports, other Research Briefs, Market
Data, ABI Insights, and analyst inquiry support. (Due to their lengths,
these URLs may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's
address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains
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contactless, M2M, wireless connectivity, mobile wireless,
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