IEEE 802.16 and WCDMA Coverage Prediction and Feasibility Study for Suburban Brazilian Cities

A technical case study of deployment of IEEE 802.16, also known as mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) networks over suburban to rural areas of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), extreme south of Brazil, is presented. Beyond that, the network profitability was verified by a brief economic analysis. Presented results can help network designers and investors in making decisions and were obtained based on both link level path loss simulations and economic indicators.