First Chinese WAPI Products Released

The first hardware products using China's proprietary WLAN security protocol were to be released today while the CEO of Intel urged the country to adopt open standards.

China has insisted that all WLAN equipment sold there after June 1 adhere to its WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) standard. China IWNCOMM Co Ltd. was to release its first wireless network cards and access points today that adhere to the standard, according to a report by the Chinese Xinhuanet news agency. Another company, Founder Technology, last week issued software upgrades to some of its existing products to bring those products into compliance.

The release of the Chinese products is a major victory for WAPI, according to a spokesperson for China's Broadband Wireless IP Standard (BWIPS) working group, which developed the protocol.

"The fact that a standard gets supports of products is already major progress for us," Liu Chaoyang, a spokesman for BWIPS said in the Xinhuanet report.

However, Intel CEO Craig Barrett, speaking in China, urged the country to adopt international standards."The fastest way to move into the rapidly growing digital economy is to adopt standards, which will enable government and businesses to maximize their investments and obtain industry-leading performance at lower cost and with greater choice," Barrett said Thursday in a speech in northeastern China.

Western companies have complained that adhering to WAPI would require them to release proprietary information to the Chinese companies that are responsible for the standard. Barrett was quoted in a several news reports Wednesday as saying that the company has not changed its plans and that it would stop selling its Centrino mobile technology once the June 1 deadline has passed. However, he stressed that he hoped a solution to the problem would be found before that date.

Other Wi-Fi chipmakers such as Broadcom and Texas Instruments have also said they likely won't adhere to the standard.