HAMPSHIRE, UK: Juniper Research forecasts that Asia will account for over 50 percent of Mobile WiMAX 802.16e subscribers by 2013, exceeding 40 million mobile subscribers.

A country by country analysis by Juniper Research found that countries such as India, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan and Australia will drive the growth of Mobile WiMAX 802.16e. The study explored how WiMAX will be well suited to rapid deployment in the many underserved areas, while government programs in countries such as Taiwan will support growth.

The new report analysed over 30 countries and found that the Mobile WiMAX 802.16e market will grow to $23bn by 2013. The report confirmed that the market is currently very active in all regions of the world with trials and network contracts being announced on an almost daily basis. M-Taiwan, for example, is a national project to establish a networked information society and cultivate IT-related industries in the domestic market: it includes six WiMAX licences across Taiwan.

Report author Howard Wilcox says: “We anticipate that mobile usage will develop after initial demand for fixed and portable services – WiMAX 802.16e is a flexible platform that can operate in all three modes of usage. Mobile WiMAX will represent a single digit proportion of the Asian mobile broadband base by 2013, which will be a tremendous achievement for this new technology platform.”

However, the report warns that both the availability of suitable devices, and the award of licences will be important factors in determining the success of Mobile WiMAX 802.16e – both in Asia and globally.