The company was to hold press conferences in London, Shanghai and
Washington D.C. to unveil its Intel PRO/Wireless 5116 chip, which had
been code-named Rosedale. The chip is designed to be used in customer
premises equipment (CPE), the modem-like equipment that will receive
WiMAX signals. That equipment could include self-installable WiMAX
modems and residential gateways, the company said in a statement.
WiMAX initially will compete against fixed broadband such as DSL, cable
and T1 connections. It is expected to take as long as two years before a
mobile version of the standard is available. Intel has claimed that,
eventually, notebook computers and other mobile devices will be
WiMAX-equipped just as many are now Wi-Fi equipped.
"As a standards-based, high-speed Internet access solution, WiMAX can
provide the platform for the next generation of Internet expansion,
connecting the next billion Internet users," Scott Richardson, general
manager of Intel's Broadband Wireless Division, said in a statement.
Intel is expected to make the announcement in concert with several
vendors who will manufacture the WiMAX equipment using the initial
Rosedale chipset. Other chipmakers such as Fujitsu also will be
releasing WiMAX chipsets in competition with Intel.
Officially-certified WiMAX equipment isn't expected to be available
until the end of this year. While the 802.16-2004 standard -- WiMAX is a
trade name describing that standard -- was approved late year, final
interoperability testing for the equipment won't start until July, six
months later than initially expected. |
