Taiwan and Wimax is still Alive! Just last month, Taiwan reported a massive jump in the number of WiMAX subscribers in the country, almost 85 percent growth for the six months ending November 2011. However, the world is changing fast to LTE, and the government of Taiwan is now getting attention for continuing to endorse and support WiMAX.
The government said it would drive an increase in development of WiMAX applications and would help the country's six WiMAX operators to expand their networks. As a rule, the government claims to be technology-neutral in its awarding of 4G licenses, and plans to remain that way as new licenses become available next year, according to local reports from Taiwan.
Taiwan was caught at the center of technology controversy last year, when Intel began to wind down its support for WiMAX, but the government insisted it would push ahead with ambitious plans for local WiMAX-related deployment and manufacturing. It does not appear as though the government is staunchly supporting WiMAX and turning completely away from LTE, but the attention Taiwan is getting for backing WiMAX may reflect just how quickly LTE is becoming dominant.