The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, also known simply as the Stimulus Bill) will provide funding for US$6.8 billion ($8.47 billion) worth of wireless communications upgrades and new deployments over 2009 to 2010. According to analysts ABI Research, the Act offers a significant one-off opportunity for wireless equipment vendors.
“[The ARRA] will have an enormous impact on Wi-Fi and wireless broadband vendors,” comments ABI Research VP Stan Schatt. “It will also immediately benefit a number of specific vertical industries including healthcare, education, homeland security, the environment and the nation’s electricity infrastructure.”
In healthcare, for example, says the company, the scope for adding wireless to the technology mix encompasses Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices and sensors, communications systems linking health networks, telepresence, wireless LAN equipment and Wi-Fi-enabled video surveillance systems.
“Many of the spending opportunities lie ‘under the surface’,” says Schatt. “A civil engineering project which seems mainly about concrete and steel may actually benefit from a lot of wireless technology. And because vendors can’t apply for funds themselves, they are — and should be — doing everything in their power to help their customers do so.”
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