Three key developments last week gave WiMAX a much needed boost as an viable option to cable or DSL broadband acccess:

1- WiFi vendor Proxim announced a partnership with Intel to market and develop WiMAX gear for fixed and portable wireless broadband systems.  Under the terms of the deal, the two vendors will cooperate in developing both fixed wireless base stations and wireless equipment intended for VoIP and data services.  Intel is expected to provide the base station architecture, whereas Proxim will deliver wireless software geared towards subscriber roaming.  Perhaps this is just the first of a flurry of similar WiFi vendor deals that is expected to happen in the WiMAX space.

2- Nokia opted to rejoin the WiMAX Forum, after departing from it just a month ago.  The Finnish vendor's original decision caught observers by surprise, because Nokia was after all one of the original founding members of the group.  However, due to the increased traction that WiMAX has enjoyed in the past few months, chances are Nokia had to reconsider its decision.  Despite that, the company's short term focus still remains primarily on WiFi and 3G.  Nevertheless, the re-integration with the group also signals the vendor's desire to stay on top of developments in a potentially disruptive technology.

3- IEEE has announced a new milestone in the 802.16 standard (revision 802.16-2004, announced this past Thursday).  This is an important blessing to WiMAX from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.