WiMAX™ accounts for more than 25 percent of last mile applications for U.S. broadband stimulus funds

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. --(Business Wire)-- Dec 01, 2009 Over 300 WiMAX applications accounted for one-fourth of the total last mile broadband stimulus applications received by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture's RUS fund, according to the WiMAX Forum. In total, WiMAX-related applicants applied for $1.6 billion of the $14.212 billion requested by the 1,130 total applicants for last mile deployments. The turnout shows the strong potential for WiMAX helping to end the digital divide in the U.S. at a significantly lower cost than traditional wireline deployments.

“WiMAX can be deployed over wide areas to serve thousands of consumers cheaper and faster than traditional wireline services,” said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. “For every dollar spent on a new network, a WiMAX operator can cover 10 to 20 times the number of homes and businesses with WiMAX service than they can cover with wireline. These savings are passed along to the customer, who spends only $25-35 a month on a WiMAX connection with comparable speed to a $50-60 cable or wireline connection...”