Motorola Re-enters Silicon to Develop WiMax Chipsets

Staff Reporter -- Electronic News, 8/29/2006

After spinning off its semiconductor business to form Freescale, Motorola Inc. will re-enter the world of silicon to develop mobile WiMax chipsets for use in the company's next-generation WiMax devices.

"It should come as no surprise to anyone that Motorola is, and intends to remain, a leader in WiMax -- including the design of silicon chipsets for mobile devices," Ron Garriques, president of Motorola's mobile devices business, said in a statement today. "For some time now Motorola has been investing in the development and deployment of WiMax, from infrastructure to advanced silicon."

Motorola's initial chipset will focus on core 802.16e mobile WiMax functionality supporting voice, video and data for low power mobile applications in handsets and modules.

These first chipsets are scheduled to support commercial Motorola WiMax devices in 2008 for carriers in North America, Japan and around the world, including Sprint Nextel, which has separately outlined WiMax plans.

"Sprint Nextel's ability to offer customers a nationwide mobile data network depends in part on broad availability of mobile WiMax-enabled chipsets for advanced wireless broadband services," said Atish Gude, senior VP of corporate strategy at Sprint Nextel, in a statement. "WiMax innovators like Motorola will help speed the adoption of wireless mobility products and services as we meet the growing access and mobile Internet needs of customers, when and where they want.

Motorola said it is working with its silicon vendors on the overall fabrication of the new chipsets.

Motorola's WiMax cheer leading is not new. In July, Motorola announced the acquisition of Clearwire's subsidiary NextNet Wireless, a provider of OFDM-based non-line-of-sight wireless broadband infrastructure equipment, in the interest of developing WiMax technology.

Analysts say the WiMax industry could boast yearly revenues of up to $3.3 billion by 2010.