MONTREAL – BWA/WiMAX subscribers worldwide reached 2.3 million in the second quarter of 2008 for a 19% increase from the first quarter and a 70% increase from the same quarter a year earlier, according to the fifth issue of the WiMAXCounts Quarterly Report, compiled by research firm Maravedis.
“Global service revenues continue to rise thanks to subscriber growth and despite the fact that ARPUs remain unchanged in the last quarter. However the average subscriber base per deployment remains very modest at 15,000 and contributes to the challenging lack of volume facing the emerging device ecosystem,” said Maravedis founder and CEO Adlane Fellah. “The launch of Xohm by Sprint-Clearwire represents the beginning of a tipping point for the industry … As awareness deepens, confidence in WiMAX technology, and the disruptive incubator nature of the WIMAX business creation model, is growing.”
According to Maravedis, BWA/WiMAX service revenue in the second quarter among WiMAXCounts operators totaled US $426 million, compared to US $366 million during the previous quarter. It represent an increase of more than 21%.
Residential subscribers representing an increasingly larger proportion of the user mix at 67% and that is a condition for reaching large volumes, stated Maravedis.
The largest mobile WiMAX deployments during the second quarter, according to the research, are from Korea Telecom, with nearly 190,000 subscribers, and Wateen Telecom (Pakistan) with more than 25,000 subscribers.
The average residential and business users ARPU remained stable in the last quarter, according to the research.
Maravedis will be presenting detailed key findings of its report during a webinar, entited WiMAXCounts Q2 2008: Statistics and Analysis,” on October 14 at 11 a.m. Eastern standard time. To register go to: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/854064816
