Another interesting opportunity for WiMAX in the developed world is the potential to serve as the backhaul connection to the burgeoning WiFi hotspots market. In the United States and the developed markets, a growing number of WiFi hotspots are being deployed in public areas such as convention centers, hotels, airports, and coffee shops.
The WiFi hotspot deployments are expected to continue to grow in the coming years. Most WiFi hotspot operators currently use wired broadband connections to connect the hotspots back to a network point of presence. WiMAX could serve as a faster and cheaper alternative to wired backhaul for these hotspots. Using the point-to-multipoint transmission capabilities of WiMAX to serve as backhaul links to hotspots could substantially improve the business case for WiFi hotspots and provide further momentum for hotspot deployment. Similarly, WiMAX could serve
as 3G (third-generation) cellular backhaul.
A potentially larger market for fixed broadband WiMAX exists outside the United States, particularly in urban and suburban locales in developing economies China, India, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil and several other countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa that lack an installed base of wireline broadband networks. National governments that are eager to quickly catch up with developed countries without massive, expensive, and slow network rollouts could use WiMAX to leapfrog ahead. A number of these countries have seen sizable deployments of legacy WLL systems for voice and narrowband data. Vendors and carriers of these networks will find it easy to promote the value of WiMAX to support broadband data and voice in a fixed environment.
The WiFi hotspot deployments are expected to continue to grow in the coming years. Most WiFi hotspot operators currently use wired broadband connections to connect the hotspots back to a network point of presence. WiMAX could serve as a faster and cheaper alternative to wired backhaul for these hotspots. Using the point-to-multipoint transmission capabilities of WiMAX to serve as backhaul links to hotspots could substantially improve the business case for WiFi hotspots and provide further momentum for hotspot deployment. Similarly, WiMAX could serve
as 3G (third-generation) cellular backhaul.
A potentially larger market for fixed broadband WiMAX exists outside the United States, particularly in urban and suburban locales in developing economies China, India, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil and several other countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa that lack an installed base of wireline broadband networks. National governments that are eager to quickly catch up with developed countries without massive, expensive, and slow network rollouts could use WiMAX to leapfrog ahead. A number of these countries have seen sizable deployments of legacy WLL systems for voice and narrowband data. Vendors and carriers of these networks will find it easy to promote the value of WiMAX to support broadband data and voice in a fixed environment.