Intel: On Track to Deliver WiMAX This Year

Intel is still on track to deliver the silicon building blocks for broadband wireless products in the second half of this year, an executive of the company confirmed Wednesday.

Intel executive vice president Sean Maloney noted that his company is working with a trio of relatively small companies - Alvarion, Aperto Networks and Redline - to develop broadband wireless equipment based on the 802.16 standard. That standard is sometimes referred to as WiMAX and has a theoretical range of 30 miles.

In addition, Maloney told the Wireless Communications Association's annual symposium that Intel was in discussions with Siemens Mobile and Proxim about possible WiMAX products. Also, telecom carriers in the U.K., Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Hong Kong are deciding whether to launch WiMAX trials.

He told the group that the first stage of WiMAX deployment, which will utilize fixed outdoor antennas, is particularly attractive in emerging nations because it makes broadband available without installing wired infrastructure.

"The wireless service provider and telecommunication equipment industries are rallying around WiMAX technology because of its tremendous cost advantages to provide last-mile connectivity to large parts of the world that are too expensive to serve with wired technologies," Maloney told the group.The second stage of WiMAX deployment, Maloney said, will be installation of indoor antennas, which should make the technology more attractive to businesses. Finally, the third step in Intel's vision, Maloney said, is mobile WiMAX.