WiMAX subscribers in India to exceed 13 million by 2013

A study done by leading research firms Maravedis and Tonse Telecom reveals that the WiMAX subscriber base in India would exceed 13 million by 2013. According to the research, deployment of 3G and WiMAX streams will generate a reasonable user base over the next 5 year period, before noticeable LTE deployments begin to make an impact in India. Despite delayed spectrum auctions that are impeding a tremendous economic driver, 3G/BWA/WiMAX network activity is already on a roll. For the severely underserved Indian broadband market, demand for wireless broadband connectivity continues across all sectors: retail, SOHO, SMEs, and large enterprises alike. Big push will be seen post-spectrum auctions. However, aided by pre-allocation in the 2.5GHz band, incumbents are already developing massive national rollout plans for both 3G and WiMAX. Significant pan-India deployments from other successful auction bidders are expected. While the global economy is lying dormant, demand for telecommunications services in India continues to fuel significant growth in the sector. It is estimated that in 2008, approximately 10,000 BWA/WiMAX base station sectors were deployed in total. India is expected to see the world's lowest end-to-end cost for WiMAX services, with costs driven down faster than in any other market. Innovative business models such as public-private partnerships will emerge, together with low cost devices and a vibrant ecosystem.

Technology, Media, and Telecommunications industry spending on security and privacy declines

Companies in the technology, media, and telecommunications industries (TMT) significantly reduced investment in security spending in 2008, according to a new survey from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. The results indicate that TMT companies are explicitly scaling back on investments in security. With the proliferation of digitized assets, security should claim a significant portion of a company's overall IT budget. However, only 6 percent of respondents allocate 7 percent or more of their total budget to IT security. This year represents a significant decline from the previous edition of the survey, which showed that 36 percent of the respondents allocated 7 percent or more of their budget to IT security.

The survey also indicates that declining security investment is hindering adoption of new security technologies, with only 53 percent of respondents considering their organizations to be early adopters, or part of the early majority, down from 67 percent in 2007. Companies are focusing more effort on optimizing solutions that are already in place rather than investing in cutting-edge technology that can be capitalized upon during economic recovery. The survey also cites that with new vulnerabilities constantly emerging, TMT companies are less confident in their ability to deal with internal security risks.

Netbooks will drive demand for mobile broadband services

Increased sales of netbooks over the next three to five years will result in higher demand for mobile broadband services, driven by the emerging trend of bundling the low-end computers with mobile data services from specific network operators. Netbooks are just beginning to gain market traction; about 13 million were sold worldwide in 2008, with 10 million of those sales coming in the second half of the year, global economic crisis notwithstanding. Bundles of these machines with internet access are set to become a bread-and-butter offering for operators in developed and emerging markets alike, exceeding sales of notebook computers in the operator channel by 2010.