Sprint, Intel Partner On Mobile WiMAX Broadband

It's generally understood, or at least assumed, that fixed location WiMAX, IEEE 802.16, will be the first version of the wireless broadband standard deployed.

No surprise there. Mobile WiMAX is covered under an amendment to the 802.16 spec, 802.16e, that's generally expected to hit the market later than fixed location WiMAX. Some sources suggest it could be as far as two years behind.

But last week's announcement that Sprint and Intel would work to "advance the development" of mobile WiMAX has us wondering if Intel wants to close the gap between the rollout of fixed and mobile WiMAX.

While the agreement has the two companies collaborating on technical specs, testing equipment and verifying interoperability, there's no assurance that Sprint will adopt WiMAX long term.

WiMAX is just one of "a number of strategic partnerships" Sprint is entering, according to Oliver Valente, CTO and Vice President, Technology Development at Sprint.

Valente went on to say that Sprint is "investigating multiple technologies in support of future wireless interactive multimedia services that would be considered for deployment in the 2.5 GHz band of spectrum," not just WiMAX.

For more WiMAX stories, check out ExtremeWiMAX.

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in ExtremeTech.