OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-Wireless local loop services may reach more than 100 million subscribers by the end of 2006, according to a report issued by Allied Business Intelligence Inc.
“There should be close to 2 million subscribers by the end of this year, and most vendors have shipped or are about to ship hundreds of thousands of lines,” said Larry Swasey, ABI senior wireless analyst.
The magic number for price-per-line is $500 needed for this explosive growth to occur, said the firm. Currently, costs per line are at $650 to $850 for urban lines and upwards of $1,000 for rural access WLL lines. In “Wireless Access Solutions to Local Loop Telephony: 1998,” ABI predicts deployment of 17,600 WLL base stations by the end of 1998, rising to 714,200 by year-end 2006.
