Thursday, June 5, 2008

Intel seeks wireless unification

Intel is the biggest supporter of Wimax, which offers high-speed, long-range wireless connections designed for the mobile net.

"In our view they ought to be harmonised," said Sean Maloney, head of sales and marketing at Intel.

LTE is a technology based on existing mobile networks and has broad support from many mobile bodies.

Mr Maloney's comments are likely to be welcomed by the mobile industry, which fears the impact two rival standards could have on the market.

Earlier this year, Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin said he believed the two standards could be brought together.

LTE is proving popular with handset manufacturers and mobile carriers because it is seen as an evolution to existing 3G networks.

By contrast, Wimax has won favour in the computer industry because its roots lie with wi-fi.

Both technologies have supporters who are in the two camps.

For instance Vodafone is currently trialling Wimax in Greece and Malta and its US subsidiary Verizon is trying out LTE.

The two systems are non-line of sight, and offer "optimal" broadband performance in a cell network between three and five kilometres in size.

LTE is also expected to offer higher speeds than Wimax, peaking at 100 Mbps download and 50 Mbps uploads.

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