Intel Readies 802.16 Launch

Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) will next week announce the commercial launch of its WiMax chipset based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE)’s 802.16d fixed wireless standard, Unstrung has learned.

The vendor is expected to officially unveil the silicon at an event in Washington on Monday, followed by launches in London and Shanghai the following day.

The move marks the long-awaited arrival of its WiMax silicon -- dubbed “Intel PRO/Wireless 5116” and codenamed "Rosedale" -- following an initial launch date targeting the second half of 2004 (see Intel's WiMax Drive and Intel Unveils WiMax Roadmap).

Intel declined to comment.

In light of its marketing muscle, the vendor is widely tipped to dominate the nascent WiMax chipset market. Intel has already announced deals with a number of broadband equipment suppliers, such as Alvarion Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALVR), Proxim Corp. (Nasdaq: PROX), and ZTE Corp. (Shenzhen: 000063; Hong Kong: 0763). (See Intel, Alvarion Develop 802.16, Proxim & Intel: MANly Friends, and Intel Maxes With ZTE.)

Its main competitors in the 802.16 silicon space include Fujitsu Ltd. (OTC: FJTSY; Tokyo: 6702), Sequans Communications, TeleCIS Wireless Inc., and Wavesat Wireless Inc.. (See Fujitsu Readies WiMax Chip, Sequans Maxes Up, Wavesat Breaks Into WiMax, and TeleCIS Maxes on MIMO.)

— Citizen Springham, Senior Editor, Europe, Unstrung