WiMAX future remains cloudy

Has WiMAX hit its apogee? Well, according to a new report from In-Stat, the mobile broadband technology is facing increased competitive pressure that could hamper any further growth.
In its report, “Global WiMAX Subscribers, Base Stations, and Revenues,” In-Stat noted that the future for WiMAX is a “mixed bag” as other wireless technologies vie for market share.
“It seems that as one door opens for WiMAX, another door closes,” said Chris Kissel, In-Stat analyst. “In the past year, there have been positive developments in consumer devices, including smartphones that use WiMAX for data but revert to 3G airlinks for voice. On the other hand, in many regions regulators are postponing spectrum auctions; and several major digital communications companies are reducing their commitment to WiMAX or leaving the space altogether.”
In-Stat reported that while it expects worldwide WiMAX subscription revenues to approach $30.2 billion in 2014, that major hardware vendors have announced they planned to stop WiMAX product developments.
A separate report from Maravedis also spelled some concern as to the future of WiMAX. The firm noted that while WiMAX operators served 7.2 million customers at the end of the first quarter, recent carrier defections from the standard have caused concerns. Russian carrier Yota recently said it planned to scrap its WiMAX deployment in favor of LTE, while domestically Clearwire Corp. has said it was looking at possibly deploying other technologies.
“Carriers are worried about the perceived lack of commitment towards 802.16m,” said Maravedis Research Director Adlane Fellah. “However despite the hype surrounding TD-LTE, we do not see much of an ecosystem in the near term.”
The firm added that carriers that have recently acquired spectrum licenses in markets like India may be forced to move ahead with WiMAX due to a lack of options in the short-term, but that eventual migration to the TD-LTE standard could prove a “significant challenge emerges regarding how to manage the millions of WiMAX device users.”