IEEE-SA Suspends Activities Of 802.20 (WiMAX Alternative) Working Group

Piscataway, NJ -- The IEEE-SA Standards Board has temporarily suspended all activity of the 802.20 Working Group until October 1, 2006. Consequently, the 802.20 plenary in July 2006 and the interim in September 2006 are cancelled. 802.20 is favored by Qualcomm and Kyocera, and adoption of this technology could compete with WiMAX.

The 802.20 Working Group currently has three appeals from WiMAX backers, such as Intel and Samsung, pending at one level or another.

This suspension will give the Standards Board time to consider the pending appeals (and possible additional actions independent of the appeals) and to give the participants in the 802.20 Working Group the opportunity to share their perspectives with the Standards Board and IEEE-SA staff on possible solutions for addressing the Standards Board's concerns.

The Standards Board will further review the facts and consider appropriate action for the Working Group at its September 2006 meeting.

SOURCE: IEEE