"For some time now Motorola has been investing in the development and deployment of WiMAX - from infrastructure to advanced silicon," says Ron Garriques, president of Motorolas Mobile Devices Business. "In our vision of seamless mobility, WiMAX will help to transform the mobile communications experience for everyone."

Motorolas initial chipset will focus on core 802.16e mobile WiMAX functionality supporting voice, video, and data for low power mobile applications in handsets and modules, he adds.

These first chipsets are scheduled to support commercial Motorola WiMAX devices in 2008 for carriers in North America, Japan and around the world, including Sprint and others. Motorola is working with its silicon vendors on the overall fabrication of the chipsets.

"Sprint Nextel's ability to offer customers a nationwide mobile data network depends in part on broad availability of mobile WiMAX-enabled chipsets for advanced wireless broadband services," says Atish Gude, senior vice-president: corporate strategy, Sprint Nextel. "WiMAX innovators like Motorola will help to speed the adoption of wireless mobility products and services."