NEW YORK-Mobile operators worldwide are poised to deploy EDGE technology as a permanent fix for data offerings or as an interim solution for advanced data and voice services during the next five years, according to a report from Visant Strategies.
Visant expects several hundred thousand EDGE-enabled base stations to be deployed by 2009, effectively delaying sales of other next-generation equipment. In addition, the group expects the chipset market for EDGE components in wireless handsets to hit $2 billion in 2009 and revenues from GSM/GPRS/EDGE-enabled handsets sold that year to total more than $31 billion. Visant also expects total EDGE users to exceed 130 million in 2009.
“Population density, per capita income, wireless penetration and the overall return on the wireless network are factors that have caused EDGE to be looked at very closely by operators. It’s a technology that can meet operators’ expectations as far as sound capital investment and return,” said Visant’s Larry Swasey, co-author of the report.
