WiMAX Forum urges India to proceed with WiMAX spectrum allocations

India's long-awaited auction of 3G spectrum may be delayed once again, and the WiMAX Forum is putting on the heat, saying that every six months of delay in the process equates to $1 billion in lost revenues for the country.

The auction has been delayed numerous times with the latest official date set for January 2010, which may be delayed again. The WiMAX Forum, however, is calling on the government to separately release spectrum specifically for WiMAX deployments in the 2.3/2.5 GHz band as a way to tap into broadband growth and economic development in the near term.

"WiMAX auctions should be done well ahead by de-linking the auction from the 3G auction process as the country needs broadband growth and wireless high speed Internet access now for the economic development of the Indian society," Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum, was quoted in telecoms.com. "India needs immediate and affordable broadband access to meet the aspirations and expectations of the younger generation who constitute 56 percent of the population."

There are more than 500 million mobile-phone subscribers in India, yet only some 7.4 million have access to broadband. The WiMAX Forum argues that WiMAX is the only viable option that will enable fast rollout of broadband services and meet the Indian government's stated goal of supporting 100 million broadband users by 2014.

For more:
- see this telecoms.com article [1]

Related articles:
India sets 3G, WiMAX auction prices [2]
India could see 3G, WiMAX in 2009 [3]
Gartner: India to remain niche market for WiMAX [4]