Due to add about 560,000 subscribers in the second quarter, the number of BWA (Broadband Wireless Access)/WiMAX subscribers passed 4 million globally, according to a report published by market research firm Maravedis.

The average BWA/WiMAX subscriber growth rate in Q2 2009 was 16.5% over Q1 2009. “Global service revenue growth is going up as WiMAX operators experience increase in subscriber growth, and the gradual appreciation of most currencies against the US$,” said Adlane Fellah, CEO of Maravedis.

“The higher demands imposed by open Internet access on web-phones and laptops pushes incumbent operators to LTE and Greenfield operators to more rapid returns for WiMAX deployments. With additional spectrum hard to come by, this is likely to pull in the time frame for conversions of existing spectrum,” said Robert Syputa, senior analyst of Maravedis.

Meanwhile, of the top 35 mobile operators committed to LTE as of Q2 2009, 37% are planning a commercial rollout in 2010, 29% in 2011, 25% in 2012, and 9% have yet to be confirmed, the research firm said.

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