Yesterday we noted Intel's commitment to investing US$500 million in Taiwan's WiMAX industry. Apparently the commitment is even deeper than that. Intel are also committing to entering in joint ventures with Taiwanese companies to develop broadband networks on the island. China Economic News (CENS) has more:
Intel will spend US$500 million over the next five years ending in 2013 on its WiMAX investment and procurement of the equipment in Taiwan, in addition to its original pledge to invest an undisclosed amount of capital to open WiMAX joint venture in Taiwan, according to an Intel top executive.
Intel Executive Vice President Sean Maloney noted the procurement items would include WiMAX chips and consumer premise equipment. Taiwanese suppliers likely to benefit from the procurement deal include MediaTek Inc., Faraday Technology Corp., GemTek Technology Co., Ltd., D-Link Corp. and Zyxel Communications Corp.
In reaction, CENS reports that President elect Ma Ying Jeo has committed to attending the WiMAX trade show to be held in Taiwan in June. In the same article CENS reports Intel has opened a WiMAX office in Taiwan and also notes the following observations:
Taiwanese industry watchers estimate the latest and previous commitments to cost Intel around NT$20 billion (US$666 million at US$1:NT$30) in investment capital.
The joint venture will assess plans to put money into Taiwanese network-communications equipment makers and WiMAX-service providers. Taiwanese companies of both sectors reported to receive the investment capital include GemTek, D-Link, Tatung InforComm Co., Ltd., First International Telecom Co., Ltd., and Global Mobile Corp. However, Intel said it was still assessing.
In a separate article CENS observes that the Taiwan government is trying to get 8 million on-island WiMAX subscribers during 2008. According to CENS:
Taiwan has been actively engaged in developing WiMAX (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) network technology, and planned to have a total of 8 million users of services based on the technology by the end of this year, according to Chen Chao-yih, director general of Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under MOEA.
PC manufacturers are also getting on this bandwagon. Digitimes noted yesterday that Acer is currently testing WiMAX enabled notebooks that they hope to launch in June. The notebooks will be based on the fifth-generation Centrino code-named Montevina.
WiMAX is going to change the world no doubt. It provides added wireless convenience and enables easy connectivity over long distances. One wonders though what the packages will be like. The push towards WiMAX in Taiwan is not surprising. Under now president elect Ma Ying Jiou Taipei became the worlds first wirless city in 2006 with thousand of Wi-Fi nodes distributed throughout the city. However, as noted by the New York Times, the system had a very low adoption rate in the beginning. Of course WiMAX's big advantage is the bandwidth and the speed with which data can be dowloaded. But still, how will it be packaged?
Article 1: Intel Pledges to Up Ante On Taiwan`s WiMAX Biz
Article 2: Taiwan Aims to Attain 8 M. Users of WiMAX in 2008
Article 3: Acer to launch WiMAX-enabled Montevina-based notebooks in June-July
Article 4: What if They Built an Urban Wireless Network and Hardly Anyone Used It?
Website 1: WiFly Website
Website 2: WiMAX Show Website
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