Is Intel exaggerating about WiMax?

If you were in the habit of reading Intel press releases, you would be under the impression that WiMax is a raging success. They proclaimed as much in a release yesterday. They have invested heavily in the standard, so they need that success. The problem is that it just isn’t true, yet.

It’s not true because there are no certified WiMax products on the market. Heck, the IEEE hasn’t even ratified the specification. They will and it will likely succeed, but the statements of Intel are premature.

What Intel was trumpeting was the deployment of WiMax based on Intel technology in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Poland, Uruguay, the Philippines, Spain and Ireland. Though that is true, they have yet to hold field trials in the U.S. and they have no real data concerning the standard.

Intel is walking a fine line. They need to promote the standard and build momentum to begin to recoup their investment, but they need to be careful that they are accurate in their statements. No one likes an exaggerator.