WIMAX FORUM HOPEFUL OF GROWTH THIS YEAR

摘要

WiMAX deployments will take off this year around the world, said Scenna Tabesh, the marketing director of WiMAX Forum, a nonprofit that certifies equipment. The group is "cautiously optimistic about the continuous growth and network deployments," she said. There may not be as many deployments in the U.S. as elsewhere, Tabesh said. She said companies like Comcast Cable and Time Warner Cable, both Clearwire investors, will become WiMAX service providers. Several WiMAX Forum members are "keenly interested" in the broadband stimulus package, Tabesh said. An industrial WiMAX working group led by a U.S. operator will form soon to pursue the opportunities, she said. The big WiMAX opportunity is outside large cities because "there's simply a lot more unserved demand in market towns and provincial business centers," said analyst Tom Elliot of Strategy Analytics.