Intel Says WiMax Is Coming Next Year — This Time for Sure

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By Bryan Gardiner 09.21.07 12:00 AM
One thing was very clear at this week's Intel Developer Forum, the semiannual gathering of hardware and software developers sponsored by the semiconductor giant: If it's small and mobile, Intel wants to put a chip in it. The lumbering rectangular towers we so often refer to as PCs have become passé, and according to Intel, are increasingly taking a back seat to a new breed of laptops, ultramobile PCs, mobile internet devices and cell phones.
In his keynote on Wednesday, David Perlmutter, senior vice president of Intel's Mobility Group, described mobile users with "insatiable appetites," hungry for ever more mobility and connectivity.
The company plans to sate this hunger with something called Montevina in mid-2008. Montevina, which will become the company's next-generation Centrino mobile platform, is based on Intel's 45-nanometer fabrication technology. It will support things like DDR3 memory, Blu-ray and HD-DVD playback, as well as an integrated Wi-Fi/WiMax module the company calls Echo Peak.
What that means in plain English is that Montevina notebooks will be faster and low-power, will include support for the latest optical storage standards, and will presumably be ready to connect with the latest wireless networks out of the box. As testament to the clout Intel wields, a number of laptop manufactures like Lenovo, Acer, Toshiba and Panasonic have already committed to using Montevina.
Key to Intel's wireless strategy is the standard known as Mobile WiMax (IEEE 802.16e). Yes, that's the same WiMax you've been hearing about -- but not seeing -- for close to five years now. But according to Intel, as well as Sprint Nextel and Clearwire, WiMax really will be ready for its public debut next year.
With Sprint Nextel and Clearwire (which counts Intel among its major investors) teaming up for a $5 billion WiMax build-out by 2010, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said he expects "150 million [people] will be covered [by WiMax] in 2008, 750 million in 2010 and 1.3 billion in 2012."
"We are on the cusp of a new global network, seamlessly integrated around the globe, to go into these ultramobile devices," Otellini said.
So what will WiMax mean to you and me? Intel CTO Justin Rattner believes you'll have the same kind of broadband experience you're accustomed to at home (on your PC), but wherever you go, whatever you're doing, and without wires. This, Rattner said, "will change the paradigm for mobile devices."
Rattner points to his new BlackBerry, with GPS software supplied by TeleNav, which doesn't store maps on the device, but downloads them as needed -- a feature only made possible by having lots of bandwidth.
"I think (bandwidth) is going to inspire all kinds of new applications and architectures ... that will leverage all the information in the cloud and be able to stream that down to the client, whatever it is: mobile, ultramobile or cell phone," Rattner said.
Intel has been pushing hard for WiMax over the years, though the standard hasn't reached consumer products yet. Now, with substantial investments in companies like Clearwire, as well as attempts to cultivate an ecosystem around the wireless technology, the company finally believes WiMax is ready to move into the public domain.
But don't expect everyone to be downloading data on WiMax in 2008. Just as it was for Wi-Fi, the rollout for Mobile WiMax will likely be slow, despite the continued hype.
Dewayne Hendricks of Tetherless Access isn't convinced WiMax will even appeal to the public at large, given that existing third-generation (3G) cellular and Wi-Fi standards are already in place and will continue to evolve. Because these standards even now offer data rates comparable to WiMax, Hendricks is skeptical about Sprint Nextel and Clearwire's plan.
"If the carriers deployed 3G, which they will, what would you need WiMax for?" Hendricks said. "The fact of the matter is, it's coming too late and there's already established and entrenched standards out there for customers. I just don't see a place for WiMax."
Indeed, Rattner's high-bandwidth BlackBerry uses a cellular network, not WiMax, to connect to the internet.
Sriram Viswanathan, vice president of Intel Capital and the man in charge of the company's WiMax program, isn't fazed. "Even if demand isn't there initially, WiMax-enabled devices will only push things along," he said.
It better. The more time it takes WiMax to gain a foothold here in the U.S., the more time those existing network standards have to get faster and more reliable.
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