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Intel Plans WiMax Chips in 2008
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Intel has been an active partner in the WiMAx development forum. Along with Reliance it has been testing the new technology. Everyone expected Intel to come up with the next platform supporting WiMax. Recently, Intel announced it will be shipping chips based on WiMax, in the later half of 2008. The chips will also be a part of Intel’s latest notebook platform coded Montevina.
WiMax is especially important for India as it seen as something that can solve the perennial last-mile problem faced by India. Rural India can be connected only via some wireless technology and WiMax with its 30-50Km range seems the optimum solution.
Lately, reports of WiMax developing a Mobile WiMax have surfaced. Mobile WiMax will reportedly be adopted by cell phone companies and will offer the next level of data and voice experienced. This will be 4G and the end speed to the handsets will be around 10 Mbps. (Theoretical speeds beings as high as 70 Mbps).
The government of India is yet to unveil its 3G policy and it might seem a but early to talk of 4G, but keeping in mind that India has always benefited from the late developments in the technological worlds, some analysts feel that India may skip the 3G phase altogether and move to the 4G era. If this happens, Intel will be the one benefitting the most. With the WiMax platform already in place, it will be just a matter of tweaking the existing devices to make them compatible across WiMax and the Mobile WiMax. What this means for India is total connectivity.
However, as I am writing this, there is an alternative standard being developed. Known as LTE, some claim this newer standard to be much faster than the Mobile WiMax and a nuch better alternative to offer 4G data and voice services.
With large players and billions of dollars involved in the game, the reason for adoption of a particular technology will be as much political as technical. And India, with a large , unconnected, untapped rural area waiting to get in touch, is going to be an interesting battleground.
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