Broadband markets in Latin America are already entering a mature stage, with almost 12 million subscribers in the five major markets - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. In comparison, the number of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) subscribers in the region does not surpass a few thousand. Given this, WiMAX adoption is expected to grow at a highly attractive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 97.7 percent between 2006 and 2012.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, "Latin American WiMax Status and Opportunity Assessment," reveals that this market comprises 20,700 subscribers in 2006 and estimates this to reach 1,234,921 in 2012.
“Operators are increasingly resorting to WiMAX, as it significantly reduces the cost of deploying a broadband network, either to expand its capability or to reach underserved areas,” notes Ignacio Perrone, team leader for the Telecom Services group at Frost & Sullivan. “Other drivers include portability and the potential for multiple devices.”
For entrants, WiMAX can be a great opportunity to overcome distribution issues, which is the most significant barrier market entry. WiMAX offers the possibility of reaching a large number of clients without having to invest in expensive wired infrastructure.
Since the number of voice services is significantly decreasing every year, broadband providers based on digital subscriber line (DSL) are looking for new technologies to maintain their position in the market. Additionally, WiMAX provides a good opportunity to follow the current global mobility trend.
WiMAX implies a long-term view for mobile operators and the primary reason for a mobile operator to be interested in this technology is to start preparing to offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, which may be an inevitable trend. This apart, since GSM and CDMA technologies are proving inefficient for data services, WiMAX would allow them to achieve high data transmission speeds.
Notwithstanding these drivers, the major restraints for WiMAX include the high cost of customer premise equipment (CPE), its inability to support advanced services such as IPTV, since it is a shared resource, and the lack of defined standards, among others. Furthermore, a delay in the frequency licensing process in countries such as Brazil and Mexico is also proving a barrier to WiMAX expansion.
”In Brazil, the regulatory body Anatel is likely to open a bidding process to distribute new WiMAX frequencies to telecom companies,” notes Perrone. “Although the bidding was scheduled to take place in 2006, Anatel's decision to prohibit the incumbents from participating in the auction, since they already offer DSL, resulted in a judicial case that is still being tried in the Brazilian courts.”
Overall, Argentina is the country with the most favorable elements for the deployment of WiMAX. This market is divided between two incumbents, namely Telecom Argentina (owned by Telecom Italia), which is responsible for the northern half of the country, and Telefónica, the southern half. Currently, the country’s telecom regulation does not allow unbundling, making the entrance of new competitors a very expensive venture.
"Latin American WiMax Status and Opportunity Assessment" is part of the Communication Services Growth Partnership Service, which also includes research in the following markets: fixed telephony, mobile telephony and data communications. All research included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.