Intels WiMAX Agenda

Intel is beating the wireless broadband drum. At Septembers Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, president and COO Paul Otellini delivered a bright technology forecast, underscoring the impact of upcoming WiMAX technology. Earlier this year, Intel launched the WiMAX initiative, which is positioned as a wireless competitor to cable and DSL. WiMAX is governed by the IEEE 802.16 standard.

Emphasizing the theme of “pervasive wireless broadband,” Otellini said Intel is taking steps to get WiMAX wireless broadband technology into shipping products and that there are now 140 companies in the WiMAX Forum. By 2008, he expects Wi-Fi technology to be in almost every notebook PC.

“We foresee the same kind of viral growth for WiMAX that we saw for Wi-Fi,” he said. “WiMAX could be to DSL and cable what cellular was to landline—a disruptive, more convenient, lower-cost technology.”

Until now, WiMAX has consisted mostly of talk. But Otellini showed a WiMAX development card with an Intel chip based on the 802.16 wireless standard, which has already shipped to customers.

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