Intel closes the door on integrated 3G for Centrino
Intel will not at any time offer an integrated 3G Centrino technology platform, according to the general manager of Intel’s Mobile Platforms Group. Instead, the company will focus on WiMAX.
Last September Intel announced that it would work with Nokia to deliver 3G integrated wireless broadband for the upcoming Intel Centrino Duo mobile “Santa Rosa” technology platform.
At the time Intel said that “this will further expand connectivity options for laptop users with the broad availability of 3G networks.”
However, in February Intel changed its mind and said that it would hold off adding 3G to Centrino because it wasn’t a “good return on investment”. The company said that it would continue to look at embedding 3G at “some time”.
Now the general manager of Intel’s Mobile Platforms Group, Mooly Eden, has told journalists attending the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing that Intel would leave vendors to develop 3G solutions, and that it would focus its efforts on WiMax.
“If you look at 3G adoption it’s still a one digit attach rate. We are going to focus on WiMAX, which we believe will be a more pervasive solution, and we are trying to work with the ecosystem to accelerate it worldwide,” Eden told ZDNet Australia’s David Flynn.
Eden believes that eventually the monthly cost for a broadband connection via WiMAX will be cheaper than any other solution. He also said that he wasn’t proud of the decision to ditch 3G, but that it just didn’t make sense financially.
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