Cellular-news.com picks up on a report from research firm Maravedis predicting that there will be 768,000 BWA/WiMAX subscribers in brazil by 2010, of whom two thirds will be using WiMAX.

"The Brazilian players are anxiously awaiting the new 3.5 GHz auction to start sometime in July 2006, before federal elections due in October 2006," the article states. "Bidders will want either to expand their current coverage areas or to enter the WiMAX arena. Moreover, positive regulatory changes in the 2.5 GHz band will open the WiMAX market starting [in] 2007."

Maravedis analysts Eduardo Prado and Adlane Fellah predict that "approximately 70 percent of those accumulated WiMAX subscribers will be residential mobile users, while fixed WiMAX will continue to be driven by large and SME customers."

The analysts say the most active players will be the companies with the deepest pockets, like Telemar, Brazil Telecom, Embratel and Telefonica.

"Overall, the total accumulated equipment market size for BWA/WiMAX in Brazil will represent a lucrative US$300 million by 2010, which makes Brazil a key market for BWA/WiMAX vendors for the years to come," Fellah says.