WiMax to cover UK by 2010

WiMax, a technology offering wireless web access across large areas, will be widely available in the UK within the next two years, Intel has predicted.

Currently, WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is only available with limited deployments in the UK.

Milton Keynes city council rolled out a WiMax service in December 2007, and there is also a WiMax network in Warwick.

However, Ashish Patel of Intel believes that WiMax services will be fully deployed across the UK by 2010.

A $1bn deal was launched yesterday in the US to roll out WiMax on the mobile network. It was backed by a number of companies including Intel, Time Warner and Google.

However, the US is a very different market from Europe where the 3G network is firmly entrenched. Up until now, WiMax has been favoured in developing countries where wired infrastructure is scarce.

Patel said that WiMax is not going to be a competitor to 3G or ADSL but will instead create a new market.

Intel is pumping a lot of money into WiMax technology and it will feature in its forthcoming Centrino 2 platform by the end of this year.

www.intel.com
www.freedom4.com