The WiMax Forum has issued a press release revealing that WiMax deployments now cover 430 million people globally with nearly 460 WiMax deployments in 135 countries, and are on a path to nearly double that to 800 million by the end of 2010 (I’m not sure if that’s taking into account Clearwire’s woes). This is people covered, of course, not subscribers. A lot of the expected growth is based on new licenses to be offered in India and Brazil.

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“WiMax coverage is here now and is the catalyst in the global marketplace to deliver 4G broadband internet access to countries that don’t want to wait,” said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMax Forum. “These new deployment numbers reveal the mobile internet WiMax ecosystem has achieved strong growth and will continue to satisfy the market demand to deliver high-speed broadband services in 2009. Certified products in the 3.5 GHz band will now give more operators access to the equipment and devices needed to deliver mobile broadband services.”