According to a recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, regulatory, security and spectrum problems will plague WiMAX deployments. WiMAX will serve rural areas best and similar niche uses, the report found. Although the WiMAX Forum is running a tight ship with its specifications in an effort to keep a lid on costs, the report estimates a price tag in excess of $3 billion for a nationwide WiMAX network. When that is taken into account with recent and ongoing rollouts of 3G networks in the U.S., HSDPA upgrades are more likely and cost effective.
For more on the OECD's study:
- see this article from the BBC