Intel, Clearwire link on WiMAX

SAN FRANCISCO--The opening keynote session of the Cellular Telcommunications & Internet Association’s Wireless I.T. and Entertainment show here this morning yielded news on WiMAX technology and an unexpected visitor, as Intel’s Sean Maloney used his keynote slot to announce Intel’s investment in and technology development initiative with Clearwire, a broadband wireless provider. After making the announcement, Maloney was joined onstage by wireless pioneer Craig McCaw, who is chairman and CEO of Clearwire (and a keynoter at this show on Wednesday).

McCaw and Maloney, who is executive vice president and general manager of Intel’s communications group, outlined the deal in a conversation with CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent during a press conference following the session. Maloney declined to give the specific dollar amount Intel is investing in Clearwire, saying only that it is “significant” and part of a $150 million fund Intel has for investments in high-speed wireless. In addition to the investment, the two companies will jointly develop networks based on 802.16 WiMAX technology, Maloney said.

That technology development will be done via NextNet Wireless, a Clearwire subsidiary that will remain the only supplier of network equipment to Clearwire for the foreseeable future, said a spokesman for Clearwire.

The collaboration between two big names (Intel’s and McCaw’s) could prove to be a boon for the relatively nascent WiMAX technology, which is still in the standardization process and has yet to be proved out commercially. The deal isn’t exclusive, and Maloney said Intel will pursue other WiMAX-related investments. McCaw added that the purpose of the joint development is to accelerate development of WiMAX across the industry, not to monopolize the sector and develop proprietary systems. “We don’t view this as a monogamous situation, nor are we trying to hijack the technology,” McCaw said. “The WiMAX community so far has been a healthy ecosystem.”

McCaw said Clearwire’s network deployment plans encompass national and international efforts in both rural and urban regions, perhaps combating the notion that WiMAX will only find use in remote and developing areas underserved by other technologies. In response to a question about the myriad and well-publicized failures experienced by other companies that have tried to deploy services based entirely on broadband wireless networks, McCaw said, “We are tempered by the fact that everyone that’s tried to do this has failed,” he said.