Telecom News --
Greenpacket projects strong growth of 4G WiMAX in CALA
Kuala Lumpur, 19 July, 2010
Greenpacket is forecasting an 87 percent compound average growth rate (CAGR) from 2010 to 2014 for WiMAX subscribers in Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) up from 900,000 at the end of 2009. WiMAX technology’s time-to-market advantage will prove to be a key motivation for operators to capture market share early.
According to the UN, the CALA region has more than half a billion population with an average urban density of 79 percent. Argentina, Brazil and Mexico alone make up more than 50 percent of the total population but broadband penetration in these countries is below 10 percent. Broadband penetration in overall CALA is even lower at 6.5 percent underlining vast growth opportunities.
Senior General Manager of Greenpacket, Kelvin Lee, adds that CALA’s dense urban landscape coupled with limited fixed line penetration makes the region perfectly suited for WiMAX. He cites that operators can effectively reach out to an exceptionally large base of customers in dense urban areas and at the same time, efficiently manage deployment cost with WiMAX.
Greenpacket also expects the technology shift from fixed to mobile WiMAX in the region to pick up steam as the ecosystem for mobile WiMAX becomes increasingly robust and equipments enjoy better economies-of-scale. Lee says that other key drivers such as growing mobility needs, urbanization, demand for multicast/broadcast services and multi-play bundles will see mobile WiMAX growing to become the preferred technology. In 2009, Ertach in Argentina and Axtel in Mexico transitioned to mobile WiMAX.
WiMAX enjoys a significant lead as the preferred 4G technology to meet the region’s hunger for broadband as broadband wireless access (BWA) licenses have long been issued in CALA while 3G licenses were only issued last year. According to Lee, mobile operators should seize the opportunity to deploy now with the availability of WiMAX technology today, as opposed to waiting for the upcoming and unproven LTE technology. “This will ensure they catch the early wave of the region’s high broadband growth potential. In telecoms, first movers typically remain market leaders for a very long time,” he said.
Greenpacket first entered the CALA market in end-2008 to engage in trials of its comprehensive range of WiMAX Customer Premise Equipments with operators in the region. The Company is now supplying to Nuevatel in Bolivia and Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT). “We are optimistic about the region’s growth prospect, and had since the beginning of this year, established local offices as a show of our commitment to this market. With our direct presence, we have strengthened our relationships with operators and have valuable in-market knowledge of customer requirements. The proximity just empowers us to serve our customers better on all fronts. We are confident of accelerating our progress and winning more customers this year,” said Lee.
Greenpacket is a leading developer of next generation mobile broadband and networking solutions.
-end-
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