The roaring deployment of WiMax equipment rollout is expected to pause for a few months, then take off again by the end of the year, according to a report from Infonetics Research.

The rapid growth of the wide-area technology has been slowed by the worldwide economic meltdown, but also appears to have been influenced by a simple need to reorganize after its earlier soaring growth, the market research firm said as it released its quarterly report on mobile infrastructure this week.

"Having grown at lung-busting speed for a couple of years, a slowdown and pause for breath for the WiMax equipment market probably would have been inevitable even without the recession," said Richard Webb, the firm's directing analyst for WiMax, microwave, and mobile devices, in a statement. "As it is, economic conditions are exacerbating the pause, with worldwide fixed and mobile WiMax equipment revenue down 16% from the previous quarter and further declines expected in the second quarter."

The WiMax equipment market is growing fastest in developing nations and particularly in Africa, but also in the Middle East, India, Europe, and Asia Pacific regions. In the United States the largest deployment is for Clearwire's infrastructure.

Infonetics indicated that Voice over Internet Protocol over WiMax technology is attracting many carriers and GSM operators also are installing the service because of its cost-effective delivery option.

A buildup of postponed shipments is expected to drive a new surge in WiMax orders, Infonetics said, noting that the service is gaining in developed countries, too, as evidenced by Japan's UQ and the Netherlands' WorldMax networks in addition to Clearwire in the United States.

Infonetics said Alvarion is the leading revenue generator followed by Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Huawei, Cisco, and Samsung.

"Although WiMax service strategies differ from operator to operator and from market to market, most operators are focused on the less capital-intensive fixed and nomadic WiMax broadband services now to address underserved markets seeking 'wireless DSL,'" said Webb. "Many have formalized plans to migrate to full mobility WiMax over the next couple of years."

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