Wimax faces competition from Qualcomm owned FLASH-OFDM standard

Wimax is yet to gain enough popularity to make it a global standard for next generation wireless connectivity. And it already has got more competing standards challenging its position. The latest in the line is the FLASH-OFDM standard, which is now owned by networking giants Qualcomm.

Wimax just recently received a major boost when the first handful of Wimax products were officially certified last week. Many more products are expected to be available soon powered by Wimax technology. This is pretty important for the companies promoting this standard as the earlier the hardware is available, the more companies are likely to deploy them.

The Wimax standard is strongly supported by microprocessor giants Intel. Qualcomm now has its own version of next generation wireless technology called FLASH-OFDM, which is based on the 802.20 standard. Wimax itself is based on the 802.16 standard. Qualcomm acquired this technology after they recently completed the acquisition of Flarion Technologies, which developed FLASH-OFDM.

However, Qualcomm would have to hurry if they want to deploy their own technology in the market considering the mobile and telecom companies around the world are very enthusiastic about Wimax.