Metric: Mobile broadband hardware grew 117%

According to a recent report from Sky Light Research, unit shipments of network equipment and end-user devices for mobile broadband data grew 117 percent in 2006, with products built to the mobile WiMAX (802.16e) standard leading the growth, despite the fact that these products have yet to be certified as interoperable. The study did not include advanced 3G mobile systems because they are "voice-based," according the Sky Light. The report looked at TD-CDMA, 802.20 and proprietary products like OFDMA. Wireless broadband, defined as such, is still a small market with only 26,000 base units shipped and about 1.5 million units of customer equipment shipped last year.

For more on the report:
- see this article from CIO