I sat in on the Intel/Clearwire briefing at CTIA and was not surprised by Intel's investment in the company. Intel needs insurance that an operator will deploy WiMAX as soon as it's available and Clearwire needs cheap equipment to make its business model work.

I'm certain that Clearwire won't be the only operator to deploy WiMAX nationally, but operators are notoriously slow to deploy any new technology. In their defense, operators have been burned in the past by deploying technologies before they were truly ready for prime time; they're wise to ease into them today.

I spoke with a few other analysts at CTIA and there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm over the deal. WiMAX in general and Intel in particular are suffering a backlack for all the WiMAX hype generated thus far. Perhaps Intel could have managed expectations better but perhaps the backlash was unavoidable. The proof is in the deployments and Clearwire is now onboard, although it did take a "significant" investment from Intel to make it happen.

Here's the really interesting thing about the deal. As much as analysts would like to dismiss WiMAX they can't dismiss Clearwire CEO Craig McCaw. The man has huge credibility in telecoms and when he says he's bullish on WiMAX, people take him seriously.

I have a number of questions about the deal which I will follow up on offline with Intel, Clearwire and NextNet and will report on in our new monthy newsletter, Great Unwired. If you'd like a sample copy, shoot me an email at jyunker@greatunwired.com.

I attended an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) event recently and was pleased to hear the moderator, Peter Meade (editor of UWB Insider), basically say "Let's get on it with already."

UWB should have been on the market a year ago. I first wrote about the technology in January 2003 and I was told back then, by multiple vendors, to expect to see it by Christmas of that year. Well, here we are a good year later and still nothing much has changed. Now I'm hearing that we'll see product by Christmas of this year. This time I know the silicon is ready, but I'm still not holding my breath.

The vendors have been stuck in a brutal standards battle, which The Economist does a good job of documenting. I think we're all well aware of the Betamax/VHS war and how that played out and I understand that nobody wants another standards battle on their hands. But there are other technologies out there that could pose real or perceived competition to UWB, namely Wi-Fi (to be followed by WiMAX), and they are already out there.

Furthermore, there is no reason why high-end A/V components can't succeed using proprietary UWB technology. It's not the ideal solution for the customer or vendor, but I have yet to see how it will prevent sales at this tier. And assuming one standard does prevail, there is no reason that dongle-like converters can't be used on proprietary devices to solve incompatabilities. Not an elegant solution, but easier to resolve than a Betamax box than won't play VHS.

UWB is an amazing technology and at a minimum is poised to eliminate dozens of annoying UWB and video cables in every home. But it could do so much more, provided it gets going quickly.

A number of wireless pundits are weighing in against WiMAX - most notably Om Malik . He makes some good points; Intel has created prematurely high expectations and WiMAX has plenty of hurdles ahead of it.

I expect the WiMAX backlash to grow in momentum; I predicted as much 10 months ago. But I would not bet against WiMAX in the long run. Earlier this week I met with three US wireless ISPS (WISPs) who will all be migrating to WiMAX, first as an enterprise fixed wireless solution, next as a Wi-Fi backhaul solution.

Regarding unlecensed spectrum, 5.8 will work. Yes, there are limitations and intererence will remain a wild card, but in the US alone the unlicensed WISP industry is well over $200 million -- and mostly due to organic growth. The RBOCs aren't anxious to jump into the fixed wireless market for a number of reasons that I won't go into here, but that doesn't mean the market isn't viable. RBOCs are not always a good bellweather of an emerging market.

Now what about this notion of WiMAX replacing cable and DSL? I don't expect much progress in this regard. DSL prices will continue to drop and cable pipes will continue to expand. But as I've said repeatedly, you don't need the DSL and cable market to be a success in the US.

Roughly 30 million out of 120 million households have broadband right now. There is plenty of room for growth yet. And then there are the municipalities who want wireless broadband for security, emergency services, asset tracking, VoIP. I just don't see wireless carriers meeting their needs at the right price. WiMAX is the ultimate "home networking" technology for communities and campuses.

Now let's assume that DSL and cable eventually own every household in the US. Can WiMAX still be wildly successful? Absolutely. WiMAX stands a reasonably good chance of replacing Wi-Fi in the home and in consumer devices. Wired backhaul or wireless backhaul, it really doesn't matter in the long run. WiMAX has plenty of opportunities ahead.

Yes, there are plenty of road bumps as well. But don't bury WiMAX before it has shipped.