Alive and kicking
It has become easy to presume that 4G wireless technology will take the form of LTE in most regions, but the companies promoting the rival WiMAX standard don't seem to have got the memo.
A new collaboration - first alluded to by the WiMAX forum but added to over the weekend - called the WiMAX 2 Collaboration Initiative, brings together several telco stakeholders with the aim of accelerating interoperable second generation WiMAX solutions based on the IEEE 802.16m standard.
Among the members of this group are Intel (unsurprisingly), Motorola and Samsung. It's a separate group from the WiMAX forum, but will collaborate closely with it.
"Intel is pleased to see strong ecosystem support emerging to accelerate WiMAX 2 capabilities," said Pouya Taaghol, CTO of Intel's mobile wireless group. "Intel has been a leader in driving the IEEE 802.16m standard and will work closely with this group and the WiMAX Forum to ensure WiMAX 2 meets the needs of operators facing explosive demand for mobile data and services."
"Motorola's WiMAX leadership is driven by our commitment to WiMAX, proven by our extensive portfolio of access points and customer premises equipment," said Bruce Brda, SVP and GM of Motorola Networks business. "Motorola Networks will continue to provide technology choice to operators by advancing to 802.16m while assuring investment protection, unprecedented 4G performance enhancements and a robust ecosystem."
"We're strongly committed to accelerating the development and commercialization of WiMAX 2 solutions based on the 802.16m standard as Samsung was the first in the world to commercialize WiMAX 1 solutions," said Woonsub Kim, EVP and head of the telecommunication systems business at Samsung Electronics. "We are confident that the WCI will rapidly expand the Mobile WiMAX market to provide mobile Internet to people in all corners of the globe."
