The Yankee Group is forecasting a total of 28 million Mobile WiMAX subscribers by 2011, according to research the agency discussed this week as part of a tele-briefing on the state of the WiMAX industry.

However, Berge Ayvazian, chief strategy officer at The Yankee Group, said various market drivers such as content application usage and the degree to which WiMAX access becomes embedded in a large volume of devices, could allow that subscriber figure to be reached as early as 2010.

“You’ve got a lot of pre-802.16e equipment out there now and for the next year, but the market is really set to grow as the standard gear goes out there into the market,” he said. His comments were part of a call-in event titled “Trendsmedia Tele-Briefing: WiMAX & Wireless Broadband: State of the Industry and Market Outlook 2006 to 2011.” (Trendmedia, the firm that produces the WiMAX World conference events, which are chaired by Ayvazian, is owned by The Yankee Group.) The briefing included research from both Yankee and Rethink Research and looked at the global market, as well as specific regional markets.

Their research also suggested that the global Mobile WiMAX equipment market will be worth about $4 billion by 2011, with the North America portion of that closer to $1 billion.