Is WiMAX the New Betamax?
The battle of the 4G standards has been waging for some time but all of a sudden, the prospects for WiMAX’s viability, compared to those of LTE’s, look wobbly. Recent indicators have fueled fears that operators who have invested in WiMAX may have chosen the Betmax of 4G standards. New Infonetics Research data shows that the equipment and device market for WiMAX contracted in the first quarter. That report came out just as the nonprofit WiMAX Forum closed its head office in Portland, Ore., and relocated a few employees to San Diego. Meanwhile, at least two operators that had signed on to use the WiMAX wireless broadband standard are considering LTE instead. In the three months ended March 31, revenue associated with WiMAX equipment and devices fell 2 percent to $303 million, according to Infonetics. Adding to the damage, TeleGeography was projecting a faster ramp-up of LTE subscribers than WiMAX users. Surprisingly, though, experts don’t appear too worried about WiMAX. Richard Webb, Inf
