• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Intel Backs Kirkland, Wash., Firm's High-Speed Wireless Internet Technology

Posted on: Monday, 25 October 2004, 23:00 CDT

Oct. 26--Intel and cellular phone billionaire Craig McCaw have joined forces to deliver a new high-speed wireless Internet service.

Intel said Monday it is investing an undisclosed amount of money in McCaw's company, Clearwire. The Kirkland, Wash., company is creating a high-speed wireless Internet network that uses a technology called WiMax.

WiMax offers speeds that are as fast or faster than cable modems or digital subscriber phone lines. Intel, which has developed a WiMax chip for computers, says WiMax can be deployed far more cheaply and efficiently than traditional broadband services offered by phone and cable television companies.

A WiMax network extends Internet service wirelessly anywhere from a half mile to 10 miles from an antenna, depending on how many people it serves. That means that any home or business within range could access the network by connecting computers to WiMax networking gear.

Intel Executive Vice President Sean Maloney said the Clearwire investment is part of Intel's attempt to jump-start demand for its WiMax chips and is drawn from the company's $150 million venture capital fund for next-generation networks.

Maloney and McCaw shared the stage at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association wireless conference in San Francisco on Monday to announce the relationship.

WiMax has been dismissed as a risky bet, but McCaw's company is making a big investment. In August, Clearwire launched a commercial WiMax network in Jacksonville, Fla. The service offers Internet access at 1.5 megabits a second for $19.99 a month.

McCaw said that WiMax networks will be up and running in Abilene, Texas, and St. Cloud, Minn., in a month. He also noted that Clearwire is establishing networks across dozens of cities in Canada and Mexico.

McCaw, a cell phone pioneer who sold CellularOne to AT&T in 1994, said his company will focus on creating WiMax networks both in rural areas such as Alaska as well as urban areas where some customers can't get access to high-speed wired networks.

Clearwire is working to secure a large number of radio-spectrum licenses around the world so it can build out large WiMax networks.

Maloney said Intel has begun shipping samples of its WiMax chip set to customers and plans to produce the chip set in higher volumes in 2005. Clearwire plans to use equipment from NextNet Wireless, one of its subsidiaries, that in turn uses chips from Intel.

Other countries are expected to roll out WiMax services faster than the United States, McCaw said. A new version of WiMax that enables people to access the Internet from moving vehicles is expected to arrive in 2006.

WIMAX: WiMax is a wireless high-speed Internet technology with a range of half a mile to 10 miles.

--The technology is backed by more than 160 companies, including Intel, Clearwire, Alcatel and Atheros Communications.

--WiMax's top speed is 70 megabits a second but its average speed per user is more likely to be 1.5 megabits per second.

--Trials of the technology are starting now. Full-scale deployment is expected in 2007.

-----

To see more of the San Jose Mercury News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mercurynews.com.

(c) 2004, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

INTC, WWCA, T, ALA, CGE, ATHR,

Source: San Jose Mercury News

More News in this Category