6:00 PM -- Hi there, broadbanders!

It turns out lots of people have an opinion about the prospect of Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) buying its way into the WiMax market. Here chez Unstrung we've been getting plenty of commentary on our recent stories about just such a possibility.

This Blogging Stocks piece on why Cisco should buy Alvarion Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALVR) instead is pretty interesting, even if the author's fund does actually have a vested interest in Alvarion getting bought.

Meanwhile, most of the WiMax industry people that Unstrung has spoken to appear to believe that Cisco has to buy into their niche soon, simply because it gives the networking giant another IP infrastructure string to its bow that will help it stop competitors from gaining too strong a foothold in these new networks. But then, they would say that, wouldn't they?

Cisco hasn't made any official comments yet, but its going to be an interesting few weeks for sure.

— The Staff, Unstrung