Intel steps back from WiMAX strategy

WiMAX got dealt another blow today as its biggest supporter admitted to fraternising with the enemy.

Paul Otellini, chief executive (CEO) of Intel, acknowledged his company were putting time, and money, into the likes of LTE and Wi-Fi and it was necessary for its future.

"As we move into the world of increasingly portable devices we have to be agnostic... [and] you have seen us now pick up assets to do that," he said, during a question and answers session with journalists at IDF 2010.

"Deeply integrating Wi-Fi, WiMAX, 3G [and] LTE into our technologies is really critical for us."

Otellini claimed the work they had done on WiMAX was "rapidly leveragable" with LTE and that 800 million people were using much beleaguered technology.

However, the confession of the need for LTE in the company's future plans, along with the recent axing of its internal WiMAX department, has got tongues wagging at IDF about the company walking away from the technology all together.

Trials of WiMAX began in the UK back in 2006, with Milton Keynes chosen as the first town to benefit.

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.