ORR Technology, LLC

Intel adjusts WiMAX plans to coincide with Sprint 2008 launch

The only surprise at last week’s Intel Centrino 2 processor launch was the delayed availability of the company’s Echo Peak WiMAX module paired with the new processor family. The fifth-generation Centrino platform (codenamed Montevina during development and renamed “Centrino 2” for production) had already slipped from a June launch at Computex Taiwan to a mid-July unveiling due to graphics and regulatory paperwork snafus. Intel representatives stated that WiMAX support would emerge later in the year to coincide with the availability of mobile WiMAX services from U.S. operators Clearwire and Sprint Nextel.

The WiMAX module delay is the latest hiccup in Intel’s plans for WiMAX to enjoy the attach rate that Wi-Fi received from the original Centrino program. Glitches in Montevina’s on-board graphics chipset and paperwork errors in the regulatory filings for wireless antennas with the FCC and Industry Canada pushed out the Centrino 2 launch. Sprint compounded the WiMAX delay in April when it announced that the XOHM service launch using WiMAX technologies wouldn’t occur until later in the year. The XOHM program has been reset for September amid the formation of a partnership with Craig McCaw’s Clearwire, Google, Intel and multiple cable operators to launch a nationwide mobile broadband network in advance of 3GPP’s Long Term Evolution by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Alltel.

The complete article about Intel’s WiMAX delay can be found as part of the Maravedis analyst newsletter.