U.S. success depends on wireless technologies

Mobile Technology Key To Stopping U.S. Slide From Tech Preeminence, Intel Chief Says

President Paul Otellini says that staying competitive in wireless-connectivity technologies such as WiMax is critical to U.S. success.

The United States' days as the world's preeminent technology producer and user are numbered if the country doesn't develop a more concrete strategy for remaining competitive in the wireless world. Such was the warning issued Tuesday by Intel president and chief operating officer Paul Otellini during his keynote address at a conference targeted at public-sector IT professionals.

It's a familiar message from Intel, but one delivered with renewed vigor by Otellini, who by next month will take over as the company's CEO.

It's not a given that the United States will remain at the top of the technology world, Otellini said, echoing a message that predecessor Craig Barrett delivered often in the past. "You cannot survive as an island in a digital world," Otellini said, adding that aggressive adoption of emerging technologies is required to maintain leadership status.

Otellini pointed to the World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2004-05, which ranks the United States as fifth in terms of "networked readiness," a measurement of the policy, institutional, and structural obstacles that prevent countries from fully benefiting from information and communication technologies. Otellini noted that the United States held the report's top spot the previous year. It now ranks below Singapore, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark. It's not that the U.S. has slowed down, but rather that the rest of the world has accelerated their efforts, Otellini added.

Intel has for years pushed for the adoption of wireless broadband technology as a way for businesses to improve productivity and cut networking costs. Much of this can be achieved through the development of WiMax, a long-distance wireless networking technology designed to replace DSL and cable Internet access. WiMax performs up to six times faster than DSL, Otellini said.

To promote WiMax, Intel has been an active participant in the WiMax Forum, which also includes AT&T and Fujitsu, a group dedicated to creating global standards for wireless broadband products. Mobility technology is required to keep up with the proliferation of wireless devices, Otellini said. Most knowledge workers are moving to mobile environments for a number of reasons, particularly to improve their productivity. The soon-to-be Intel chief added, "It makes users more productive if their computer can move with them."

But WiMax faces a number of obstacles. One is the limited amount of spectrum space available. A solution is to take lower-spectrum space being abandoned by analog television and devote this to newer technology like WiMax, Otellini said. WiMax standards also have met with resistance and delay. Certified WiMax equipment, which was to be available to wireless service providers in the first half of this year, is six months behind schedule.

Otellini pointed to the city of Philadelphia as a prime example of broadband wireless potential blocked by competing business interests. Philadelphia, which had the potential to become the country's first wirelessly networked city, instead was blocked as Pennsylvania became the 15th state to restrict Wi-Fi networks, he said. He contended that wireless cities have the ability to provide more comprehensive Internet access to a variety of users, including students, parents, and workers responsible for public safety and public health care. Verizon Communications successfully argued that municipal networks are anticompetitive, convincing Pennsylvania to pass a law giving telecommunications companies the right to veto municipal network plans.

Of course, Intel has a major stake in the success of wireless broadband, since it makes the engines that drive wireless devices. Biometric security technology, for example, requires commensurate processing power to perform scans and database checks in a timely manner. Likewise for complex mapping applications used by first responders and the military. These applications aren't effective if they perform at slow speeds.

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