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Intel's venture capital investment organisation, Intel Capital, and Pipex Communications have jointly formed Pipex Wireless. This will be a wireless operator providing broadband services in major metropolitan areas.

The companies say it will 'meet the needs of consumers, enterprises and governments for wireless broadband, including citywide "hotspot" wireless access'.

While Intel Capital is investing $25 million in the new company, Pipex has transferred its 3.6GHz UK spectrum licence to PIPEX Wireless to enable it to deploy services based on WiMax.

'We see the creation of this new wireless service provider as an incredible opportunity to provide new services to major cities in the UK,' said Peter Dubens, Pipex executive chairman, and the man who will be chairman of the new venture. 'With a wireless service, Pipex Wireless will offer unique broadband access and services that are very complementary to Pipex's existing business of DSL access, hosting and network access.'

Pipex will provide 'certain core services' to the new Pipex Wireless, noted Dubens, and push new wireless products to Pipex customers. Specifically, Pipex will be targeting customers who require more than fixed broadband to the home or office, and want to add different access methods into the mix.

The

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roll-out of the WiMax-based network will begin in London and Manchester in 2007, and target the top eight population centres by 2008. The company intends to eventually roll out wireless broadband services to the top 50 UK population centres.

Pipex has been busy positioning itself for future broadband developments. Only last month, Pipex bought up comms company Caudwell Communications to take control of its Homecall business. It also launched high speed 'Pay-As-You-Go' broadband services in February, and in October 2005 Pipex acquired fellow ISP Freedom2Surf in a deal worth £10m.

For its part, Intel has long been pursuing the development of WiMax, the 802.16d/e wireless networking standard.

'WiMax technology improves the economics of broadband access by lowering costs and providing exciting new service models for customers,' said Arvind Sodhani, Intel Capital president. 'This investment is part of Intel Capital's continued effort to deploy broadband access globally using competitive WiMax-based technology solutions.'

Back at the IDF Fall of 2004, the company was envisaging a three-phrase rollout of the technology. On Intel's terms (according to Jim Johnson, VP of Intel's Wireless Networking Group), the first phase covers 'fixed access' - competing alongside DSL and cable broadband to provide fixed broadband access inside or outside of homes. The next phase - concerned with portability - involves 'nomadic metrozones' where mobile users are seamlessly connected within large scale urban areas (using 802.16e). Finally, full mobility support is scheduled for 2007 with the incorporation of WiMax chips into handsets such as mobile phones.

We will await more details of the Pipex services, but Intel seems to be moving into phase two...