ABI: Fixed Wireless Terminal Shipments to Triple by 2012

January 12, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

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According to ABI Research senior analyst Sam Lucero, there are five main use cases of the FWT:

• First and largest is as a wireless local loop device providing voice service where wired infrastructure is unavailable.
  Consumers in rural China and other regions of the Asia-Pacific region and South America, where there is cellular infrastructure but no landlines, are using FWTs to connect conventional phones.

  "This SOHO [small office/home office]/consumer sector will continue to experience the strongest growth," said Lucero. "Tens of millions are shipping in China alone."

• A longer term, though smaller market is industrial, where FWTs can backhaul signals or data from a cluster of locally placed devices, such as industrial machinery. Lucero said this market is expected to show unspectacular, but steady growth.

• Three new third generation (3G)-based categories have also been created. Markets for these 3G-based uses are still small, said Lucero. As a result, they will show strong growth rates, but not high volumes - at least in the short term.

  Temporary installations are intended to allow a number of people with local area network (LAN)-equipped computers to share one 3G data card on an ad hoc basis.

  A group of emergency responders, for example, could set up a command and communications hub at the scene of a crime or disaster. Analysts said such configurations could also assist meetings in any location where there's no Internet access available.

• A mobile FWT is really a Wi-Fi access point with a cellular backhaul connection, mounted in a bus, train, boat or car, and providing, in effect, a mobile hotspot for passengers. Analysts said buses serving Microsoft's Redmond campus, for example, are equipped with mobile FWTs.

• In remote office/branch office (ROBO) applications, FWTs can provide a stopgap equivalent of landline communications where none are yet available. Lucero said they can also provide network router backup.

  Cisco, for example, offers 3G cards for a router; the router may function 99% on a wired network, but if that landline fails, the router can fall back on the cellular connection.

Source: ABI Research.