WiMAX to co-exist not compete with Wi-Fi

WiMax wireless broadband capabilities may eventually compete with Wi-Fi as some proponents of the technology claim, but it will be at least 2007 until that happens, according to a study released this week by ABI Research.

The study noted that Intel will be the first to start selling chipsets supporting a mobile version of WiMAX, 802.16e, in mid-2006. Other vendors will follow suit soon thereafter, the study predicted.

"We're not looking at WiMAX to even start to compete against Wi-Fi until 2007, when it will turn up in a few laptops," Phil Solis, an ABI Research senior analyst, said in a statement. "By then, Wi-Fi penetration in laptops will be almost universal."

Rather, a likely scenario is that WiMAX and Wi-Fi will co-exist for a long time, with WiMAX providing backhaul to internet backbones from Wi-Fi hotspot locations, the study concludes.

ABI's statement made no mention of other wireless broadband technologies, such as FLASH-OFDM. That wireless broadband technology, which already is in field trials by a number of operators such as Nextel and T-Mobile International, already provides mobile wireless broadband access.