Known as WiMax, the Air Interface Standard IEEE 802.16 is a specification for fixed broadband wireless metropolitan access networks, which allows wireless computer users to gain remote access to the Internet.

In essence, WiMax provides greater range and speed for wireless Internet access than WiFi, or wireless fidelity, which uses an 802.11 network.

The two companies said in statements they will be working together to speed up the development of WiMax and collaborate on furthering the potential of mobile phone and computer users in high-speed broadband networks.

They did not disclose the financial details of the alliance, however, and they shied away from other specifics.

"We and the industry as a whole are at the early stages of discovery and development," said Sean Maloney, executive vice president of Intel's mobility group, in a statement.

He added that "the industry momentum is remarkable. To have innovators like Nokia working to bring WiMax and other broadband wireless technologies to the masses is very encouraging."

Others seem less enthusiastic about the partnership and do not expect the deal to be the beginning of the creation of a Wintel on the telecommunications front - the name industry analysts have given to products that have both Intel chips and Microsoft Windows applications.

"There's a big question mark about WiMax," said Gary Arlen, president of Arlen Communications, a consulting firm specializing in telecommunications.

Arlen told United Press International although many opportunities exist in the broadband business, Nokia and Intel might have rushed in to make their claim on the technology on "wishful thinking that it will become the standard."

"This could be a technology that is a solution in search of a problem (to solve)," he warned, adding that WiMax has great potential, but as yet there is no clear indication it will be in great demand.

Jim Caruso, president and chief executive officer of MediaFirst, a high-tech public relations and marketing services firm in Atlanta, also warned of the risks of betting too heavily on WiMax.

The technology "may or may not get widely adopted, as WiFi is," Caruso, who also is a former IBM executive, told UPI. "It may or may not get deployed around a city."

He acknowledged landline phones were a dying breed, but noted, "The question is when and how."

Chris Null, editor in chief of Mobile magazine in San Francisco, told UPI it was premature to declare WiMax the next big thing. It could be useful in rural areas as well as the suburbs and big buildings, but for now "there's no huge compelling need for extremely fast data connection on cell phones," he said.

Null said he thought the biggest immediate challenge was getting the infrastructure in place, so if a major phone company such as Verizon or Cingular, which already owns cellular-service towers, were to commit to WiMax as well, then prospects for the technology would "definitely be more exciting."

Some analysts shared Intel and Nokia's enthusiasm for greater mobile broadband communications networking.

The two companies' partnership in WiMax "is a significant announcement," said Dave Mock, an analyst specializing in wireless communications at CurrentOfferings.com.

"While it is still far too early to call WiMax a breakthrough, the critical mass behind the technology has already been reached," Mock told UPI.

"Nokia has consistently supported a technology-agnostic approach, so it's no surprise they would also work to develop WiMax products. It could potentially open companies like Intel and Nokia to broadband access markets they have little presence in today, at least that's the hope behind WiMax."

Shihoko Goto is UPI's Senior Business Correspondent.

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