A new report from the Yankee Group indicates that WiMax wireless broadband is gaining in popularity and is poised to become the third most used high-speed internet access technology after DSL and cable modems. In addition, the report says that while DSL and cable penetration will continue to grow, WiMax products will continue to push for certification. With that being said, the thought is that WiMax adoption will only take off if the cost of customer premises equipment decreases.

One of the primary goals of WiMax is to eliminate the cost of broadband wireless customer premises equipment, according to Lindsay Schroth, senior analyst for broadband access technologies at Yankee Group.

”We do not expect to see a significant price decline until 2006,” he said in a statement.

”Yet the largest impact on WiMax market acceptance will be when silicon is embedded in portable devices, such as laptops, removing any upfront investment in customer premises equipment. This is likely to happen in 2007 when 802.16e silicon is produced.”