Wi-Max wings its way to one billion

Wi-Max will be offered to over one billion people by the end of next year, the WiMAX Forum has said.

The not-for-profit organisation also expects the next generation mobile communication standard 4G to become widely available by that time.

The expansion of Wi-Max coverage could potentially increase mobile IP telephony solutions take-up, such as apps which emulate VoIP phones, as Wi-Max provides entirely mobile internet access.

In February 2009, the WiMAX Forum predicted that Wi-Max networks would reach 800 million people by the end of 2010.

However, with Wi-Max providers already offering network coverage to 620 million people in around 147 countries, this figure is expected to be topped by the year's end.

Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum, said that these figures show that Wi-Max "will continue to meet the global market demand for high-speed broadband access in developed and emerging regions".

The number of Wi-Max deployments worldwide in 2009 far outstripped deployments of LTE and HSPA, TeleGeography said recently.

While few Wi-Max networks offer widespread coverage, demand for them is set to increase as they can offer wireless broadband access in rural areas, making mobile VoIP solutions more reliable.