Red Herring: Ericsson on Friday confirmed reports that it has quietly closed down development and manufacturing of WiMAX products, making it the first major telecommunications equipment maker to pull out of the next generation wireless broadband technology.
The Swedish company’s decision to turn its back on WiMAX , seen as an alternative to third generation cellular phone technologies and as a way to connect homes or businesses to the internet, could prompt other equipment vendors to follow suit, said one analyst. “WiMAX offers nothing that cannot be offered by 3G (third generation mobile) based technologies,” said Mikael Persson, manager of strategy and business development Wideband CDMA at Ericsson.
Ericsson is a major manufacturer of 3G mobile phone technologies and was a late convert to WiMAX. The vendor in December 2004 joined the WiMAX Forum as a “principal member,” adding that it would “strongly contribute to the existing competence of the forum.”
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