WiMax wireless broadband is rapidly gaining in popularity and is set to become the third most used high-speed internet access technology after DSL and cable modems, research has claimed.

A Yankee Group report predicted that WiMax will take centre stage in the push to fuse the fixed and mobile broadband worlds.

The analyst said that DSL and cable penetration will continue to grow while WiMax products push for certification, and that mainstream WiMax adoption will only take off if the cost of customer premises equipment falls.

With equipment prices in the range of £140 to £330, service providers are struggling to compete in markets with a high availability of cable and DSL, Yankee Group said.

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."