In-Stat/MDR reports that the emergence of new standards, including 802.16 and 802.20, will spur growth in the fixed wireless broadband market: The market should grow from $558 million in 2003 to $1.2 billion by the end of 2007, the study concludes.
The report also notes that 802.16 with its WiMAX Forum will meet more success than 802.20, the standard being developed specifically to deliver high-speed data in a mobile environment. There is a battle emerging between these two developing standards as they are somewhat similar. While the 802.16 standard was originally designed for fixed or portable installations, it is now being developed for mobile applications. The 802.20 standard targeted mobile applications from the start and aims to use a smaller swatch of spectrum. The situation promises to get sticky and political as both standards progress.