Intel sees WiMax trials in Asia end-2005

Reuters.com | Thu Sep 22, 2005 6:47 AM ET165

By Jennifer Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Intel Corp., the world's largest microchip maker, said on Thursday it expected to implement trials of the emerging wireless broadband technology called "WiMax" in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines by year-end.

Intel, which makes the microprocessor chips that function as the brains of over 80 percent of the world's personal computers, has been the driving force behind the deployment of WiMax, a wireless data network that promises to blanket entire cities with high-speed Internet links.

"The trials of the technology are starting now, and we see (commercial) roll-out worldwide over the next two to three years," Sean Maloney, the head of Intel's mobility unit, told Reuters. "But it's patchy -- some places will be faster than others."

Indonesia and Vietnam would be next in line to try out the technology next year, he added.

Intel has carried out trials with 100 telecoms carriers globally, with 25 in the Asia Pacific region. It is also helping South Korea's top fixed-line and broadband operator KT Corp. set up WiMax in its domestic market.

South Korea is set to be the leader in WiMax, with commercial roll-out seen in the first half of next year, Maloney added.

BANKING ON WIMAX

In a bid to grow beyond the PC box, Intel has spent millions investing in emerging technologies like WiMax, touting it as the long-distance broadband Internet sibling of Wi-Fi, the wireless computer standard popularized in coffee bars and restaurants.

The company, which has been punished by investors for its close ties to the highly cyclical PC market, can no longer count on computer demand to expand at the same rapid clip as before.

Intel, which competes with smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., also plans to build WiMax chips into laptop chipsets, just like it started selling Wi-Fi chips as a part of its Centrino range of notebook computers two years ago.

"WiMax will be one of those growth avenues, and everything to do with mobile computing as well," Maloney said.

"Sales of notebooks, PCs and general computer infrastructure following WiMax will benefit Intel -- if you enable more and more people to get connected to the Internet, it's likely more people will end up buying computers."

Maloney said Intel would usually work with the regulator or government in each country, as well as some of the largest telecoms carriers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

It is working with True Corp., which owns TA Orange PCL, Thailand's third-largest mobile operator, and Telekom Malaysia, the country's dominant phone company.

Leighton Phillips, director of Intel's Southeast Asia solutions group, said the company was engaging with five government agencies and three companies in Thailand, which would provide a critical mass to implement wireless broadband services for the rural population.

Intel believes WiMax can facilitate better education, healthcare, agricultural productivity and incomes, he added.

"About 65 to 70 percent of the community is rural suburban in Southeast Asia -- about 300 million people, which is a little bit less than the U.S., and for a government that's interested in economic development, this is high on the agenda," he said.


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