Intel, Proxim Lend Backing
To New Wireless Standard

A new wireless technology that could one day be used to deliver high-speed Internet access to homes and businesses received the support of several high-profile technology companies.

Intel Corp., Proxim Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and a handful of other technology companies said they joined an industry group called WiMax to help certify equipment based on a new wireless technical standard that could help greatly expand the availability of high-speed Internet access. Finland's Nokia Corp. was already a member of the group.

The new standard, called 802.16, is not to be confused with the increasingly popular Wi-Fi standard, which allows computers outfitted with special antennas to wirelessly access the Internet.

Longer Range

While Wi-Fi users generally cannot stray more than 300 feet from a special base station antenna set up in their homes or so-called hot spots in cafes and hotels, 802.16 technology has a range of as much as 31 miles. That means the newer technology could be used to quickly and cheaply extend high-speed Internet service to locations, such as rural areas, that aren't currently served.

"We believe it's the next big thing in the wireless broadband arena," said Margaret LaBrecque, president of the WiMax group and an Intel manager.

The growing support for the new standard shows how technology companies are laying the groundwork for a new wave of wireless Internet technologies, even as the current generation of technology is just beginning to catch on with a broader audience. Intel, for one, recently added Wi-Fi capabilities to a set of chips it is selling to makers of personal computers, who are building wireless Internet access into laptops.

Incentive to Upgrade

But users who purchase such Wi-Fi equipment won't be able to communicate directly with gear based on the new 802.16 standard, which could help hardware companies induce users to upgrade to newer products if they wanted to take advantage of its benefits.

Products that use the 802.16 standard aren't expected to be available until the second half of 2004, and carriers aren't likely to introduce high-speed Internet service using it until 2005, companies said.

WiMax said its goal is to ensure that 802.16 equipment from different companies will communicate with each other.

Write to Nick Wingfield at nick.wingfield@wsj.com

Updated April 9, 2003

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