WiMax future may start in Chicago

CHICAGO, May 9 (UPI) -- The future of wireless communication may have its start this year in Chicago, industry observers said.

The service known as WiMax can roll television broadcasts, phone service, Internet connections and other data transmissions into one high-speed pipeline.

WiMax was given a corporate push Wednesday, when Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp, put together a $14.5 billion partnership involving $3.2 billion in investments from Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Intel and Time Cable Inc.

Regional tests of the system could begin in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington by year's end, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.

Chicago may see WiMax first as it is close to the home of equipment supplier Motorola Inc., the newspaper said. Clearwire expects the system could go national by 2010.

The system could be used for appliances to diagnose problems and contact repair services before the appliance owner knows something is wrong, the report said.

It could also allow for high-speed Internet connections in a moving car.

"It's all been debugged," Senior Vice President at Motorola Fred Wright told the Tribune.

"Everything all works, so whenever they're ready, we're ready," he said.