Intel still backing WiMAX

Intel has defended its stance on WiMAX, claiming it still supports the technology despite axing its internal department.

Taiwanese website DigiTimes claimed yesterday the company was backing off from the wireless standard, but Intel has responded by coming out strongly behind it in a blog post.

Bill Kircos, PR manager at Intel, admitted the WiMAX programme office had shut but claimed it had only been a "temporary" fixture in the first place, designed to get the technology to market "as fast as possible."

"For us, the mission of getting WiMAX off the ground and in the market is accomplished," he wrote. "The folks working in the program office merely are being housed under our existing Intel business groups."

Kircos claimed WiMAX had continued to expand its user base and would continue to grow in the future, existing harmoniously alongside other standards such as LTE and 3G.

He concluded: "Intel, and most companies, don't usually announce minor (or in some cases major) internal org changes. We did debate internally whether we should have said something here, but it sets a precedent for having to maybe do that on all of our moves, which at a company this large is very often. What would you have done?"