The advent of mobile broadband access is accompanied by significant uncertainties over the likely future successes of the new technology choices that are becoming available. In particular, the relative commercial and technical advantages and disadvantages of operating HSPA vs. mobile WiMax remain unresolved. Operators, regulators and vendors are developing their plans for the future in a cloud of hype, biased comparisons, and easily misinterpreted statistics.
In this report, Arthur D. Little attempts to take an unbiased view of both technologies, assessing their limitations and achievements on a like-for-like basis, in a framework that is relevant to investors and operators making strategic decisions about technology investments.
For this purpose, we have interviewed 31 HSPA and WiMax equipment vendors, operators running the networks, government regulators and financial investors around the globe. We have not only gathered and analyzed the qualitative assessments made by our interviewees but together with our colleagues from Altran Telecoms & Media and Praxis have also collected some 300 parameters required for a quantitative assessment of the differences and have modelled these in realistic deployment scenarios.