CTIA: The resurrection of an Angel

SAN FRANCISCO--

One irony of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association's Wireless IT & Entertainment event this week is that one of the most significant pieces of news to come out of the show didn't really have anything to do with cellular, wireless IT or entertainment. But it did involve one of the wireless industry's most prominent pioneers, and it could significantly impact the future of a nascent technology, so its significance was indisputable.

That news was the collaboration between Intel and Clearwire, Craig McCaw's newest broadband wireless effort, to develop and deploy WiMAX technology. Beyond the significance of the venture for proponents of WiMAX (and setting aside for a moment the amount of play the announcement got at an event supposedly dedicated to a different sector of the wireless industry), the effort represents the renaissance of McCaw's long-term vision to use wireless technology to connect the broadband last mile.

McCaw himself acknowledged as much in his uncharacteristic public appearances here this week (three in all, including a cameo appearance during a keynote by Intel's Sean Maloney, a joint press conference with Maloney and his own keynote later in the week). He even talked about the original efforts to develop broadband wireless access technology--a clandestine effort dubbed Project Angel that started at McCaw Cellular, was eventually publicized and later scuttled by acquirer AT&T Wireless--and acknowledged how much the decks are stacked against an all-wireless broadband strategy. "Everyone who's done this has failed, including our project," McCaw said. "We're crossing the river on the backs of other entrepreneurs."

That may not instill confidence in those hoping the Intel/Clearwire collaboration will propel the WiMAX effort forward, but it's a better alternative to the excessive hype and over promising that typically accompanies this kind of turning point in a technology's evolution. McCaw is experienced enough to know that hype will accomplish nothing--what will, he pointed out, is an open standard for WiMAX, minimum taxation and intellectual property, simplicity and availability of the technology to any and all manufacturers and operators. "It will only have a place in this market if it accomplishes that," McCaw said.

E-mail me at jmeyers@primediabusiness.com.