WiMAX Services Are Both Complements To And Substitutes For Fixed Broadband

The wireless broadband technology known as WiMAX is slowly rolling out in markets around the US — and consumers have no idea what it is. But that's not a problem: Despite their lack of familiarity with the technology, consumers do understand the benefits it can deliver. Sixty-eight percent of US online users expressed interest in subscribing to WiMAX as a substitute for their current Internet access service — but comparability of speed, price, reliability, and quality are key caveats to such adoption. WiMAX as a complement to fixed broadband does not share those adoption barriers, and it is therefore more likely to gain traction with consumers — 50% of whom expressed interest in such a service. WiMAX product strategy professionals will be heartened by this data, but they must target their substitute and complement messages at the appropriate market segments and focus on the benefits that WiMAX delivers rather than how it does that.