Although Mobile Wimax networks have already been launched in Korea and the US, the technology is likely to remain a niche mobile technology.
So says a new report from IMS Research, whose analysts believe that mobile Wimax will struggle to gain traction with operators.
According to IMS, although mobile Wimax has a time-to-market advantage over LTE of at least three years, this is likely to hurt the standard rather than help it.
This is because operators are just beginning to see a return on their 3G investments, so will be wary of switching to a new technology so soon.
And with a lack of widespread adoption, vendors will have little incentive to support mobile Wimax.
The fact that the 3GPP has already picked LTE as the 4G standard may prove another nail in the coffin for the standard, the report states.
Korea Telecom has deployed a Mobile Wimax network in Korea, as has Sprint - in partnership with Clearwire - in the US.