Having a good data network is not enough
| – the WIMAX operators’ greatest enemies are the world’s mobile device manufacturers that appear to be giving WIMAX a fatal blow… There are a number of WIMAX operators around the world and many of them are fighting a tough battle against the many WCDMA operators that offer voice and data on a wide selection of inexpensive mobile devices. In our report How can a Wimax operator survive in a world full of WCDMA, Strand Consult has analysed the device-orientated challenges that WIMAX operators around the world are currently fighting against. When we examined the markets where WIMAX operators are doing business, we saw that most business cases are based on mobile broadband and are often a serious alternative to the DSL solutions that the old incumbents are offering their customers. But when we look at the voice-over-WIMAX markets and the number of WIMAX devices that offer voice functionality, it becomes a very depressing story. In contrast to a world where the number of different types of mobile devices, the use of standard platforms like Symbian, Windows 7, Android and Bada etc has exploded in the last 10 years and where customers are demanding increasingly smart phones with increasing functionality, the number of WIMAX devices is very few. In reality the large device manufacturers have not taken on the role of delivering active equipment to the networks that they themselves, in a number of cases have promoted. In our report How can a Wimax operator survive in a world full of WCDMA, Strand Consult concludes that on the WIMAX device market, it appears as if the device manufacturers are in reality in the process of giving the WIMAX operators a fatal blow, or alternativly reducing their role as computer data traffic providers, competing with the traditional DSL providers doing business as ISPs. We believe that if WIMAX operators are to have a chance on the voice market, it will not only require the presence of WIMAX devices on the market, but also that the device manufacturers ensure that there is a wide range of these devices on the market. We know that the WIMAX operators badly need devices in a number of categories including devices for the private market, corporate devices, inexpensive devices, Smartphone-type devices etc. Basically the WIMAX operators need many different types of devices and an ongoing stream of new devices launches in order for them to compete with the 3G/WCDMA operators that already have access to a wide selection of devices in all price ranges. You can read more about the device-orientated challenges that the WIMAX operators are facing in our report How can a Wimax operator survive in a world full of WCDMA. We have already sold this report to many of the larger WIMAX operators around the world, who are now using the comprehensive information and knowledge from the report in their strategic work. Strand Consult has worked with many WIMAX operators and through our reports and workshops spent a great deal of time and resources ensuring that we have published the optimal knowledge you need to increase the probability of success for a WIMAX operator. |
| More information: How can a Wimax operator survive in a world full of WCDMA |
