WiMAX subscribers in India to reach 21 million by 2014

Bangalore

October 24th, 2007

Telecom market research and analyst firm Maravedis, in partnership with Tonse
Telecom, released the 2nd Edition of "India wireless broadband and WiMAX
market analysis and forecasts 2007-2014" providing detailed review of
regulatory challenges and overall wireless/WiMAX market trends in India.

Maravedis estimates up to 21 million WiMAX subscribers in India by 2014.
According to the report, the steady CPE price reduction significantly impacted
the potential ARPU, favorably changing the market perspective. "Operators
are unwilling to wait--2008 may become the 'Year of wireless broadband' in India
and fulfill the expectations anticipated in 2007," said Sridhar Pai,
co-author of the report and founder of Tonse Telecom.

"Companies like Telsima reduced the CPE price by 50 percent as early as
Q2-2007. Consequently, carriers like Reliance, started commercial services in
Bangalore and has RFPs on the way, but there are more large-scale deployments to
come," said Adlane Fellah, CEO of Maravedis.

"If some of the larger projects go through, we estimate that in the next
12 months, about 10,000--12,000 base stations sectors and 500,000 CPEs will be
sold in India" said Pai. "Given the bulk discounts expected by
operators, the CPE/BS for 2008 may reach $50 to $120 million. A substantial jump
over the previous year and could be just the beginning of what might become one
of the world's top three WiMAX markets," added Fellah.

Key findings of the report indicate that WiMAX-enabled notebooks and handheld
device shipments will reach 14 million units in 2014; WiMAX-enabled stand-alone
CPE shipments will peak at 3.6 million units in 2012. By 2014, approximately 66%
of WiMAX subscribers will be using 802.16-2005 while 802.16-2004 will continue
to be driven by large corporations and, to a lesser extent, by SME customers and
India is expected to see the costs driven down faster than in any other market.