Unstrung Insider is reporting that Lucent is close to joining the WiMAX Forum.

As I noted a week ago, it's just a matter of time before all major telecoms vendors join the Forum. After all, they're in the best position of all to capitalize on the technology.

That's not to say that WiMAX will be a huge success right away. These vendors may only be hedging their bets and have little invested in making WiMAX a part of their carrier product portfolio. But now that Nortel and Lucent are onboard, I expect at least one of them to take WiMAX seriously.

And what about Qualcomm? When are they going to join the Forum? They won't tell me; I suspect much is riding on Nextel's wireless broadband decision. My prediction: Nextel goes with Qualcomm and WiMAX and Qualcomm joins the Forum.