WiMax push heats up in India

NEW DELHI--In what appears to be a last ditch effort to ramp up support for the broadband wireless access (BWA) technology, the WiMax Forum is hard-selling the platform's proposition to winners of the BWA spectrum in India.

"India is an extremely important market for us," Declan Byrne, director of marketing for WiMax Forum, told ZDNet Asia in an interview Thursday. The delegate was in town for the 7th WiMax Forum conference held here Friday which gathers vendors and Indian BWA players together to discuss issues such as costs, time-to-market and the WiMax ecosystem.

Given the potential of India's broadband market, which remains largely untapped at a penetration rate of only 1 percent, WiMax is assured of market longevity if it is adopted in the country. Its success will depend on the decision of BWA operators, having just secured their licenses last month, which are currently toying between WiMax and TD-LTE as their platform of choice.

For more on this story, read WiMax Forum pins hopes on India on ZDNet Asia.