Vodafone waves white flag in WiMax wars

After the government threw its hat in the ring over WiMax, friends and foes of the technology have been frothing at the mouth to deliver a natty sound bite on why the standard is the wireless equivalent of a cold sore or the saviour of all things broadband. Vodafone has now announced it's sleeping with enemy and joining the WiMax Forum. Who's the winner here?

The answer, in short, is Vodafone. The company has backed 3G and all the standards within the family like a good Aussie Rules fan backs its team -- so far, no shocker. You'd expect one of the world's largest mobile companies to be persistent in its love of a technology that it has spent billions on.

However, unlike some of its less prudent rivals, it has always kept an eye on the WiMax competition. Rather than indiscriminately badmouthing WiMax like so many others (cough -- Telstra and Qualcomm -- cough), Vodafone has always been sure to speak of the technology in guardedly respectful terms.

Vodafone has equally not disputed the fact that WiMax may be a threat to so-called mobile, ie cellular, broadband. Speaking earlier this year, CEO Arun Sarin said that mobile operators must move faster or risk WiMax players "eating their lunch".

While many have been quick to dismiss WiMax as niche and not a patch on the upcoming LTE -- the successor to the 3G we know now -- it looks like Vodafone is further doffing its cap to WiMax by joining the WiMax Forum, a body that certifies products equipment and promotes take-up of the technology.

The simple fact is that WiMax is here and it's not going to go away. While I would be vastly surprised to see Vodafone rolling out a WiMax network in any of its mature markets, it wouldn't be entirely inconceivable if it were to further deploy the technology in emerging or smaller ones.

At any rate, it must be better for Vodafone to be on the inside seeing how WiMax is progressing and having a hand in its development than to be on the outside like other telcos, ranting and fist-shaking about the new kid on the wireless block.

As Steve Pusey, Vodafone's global CTO, said in a press release last week: "Vodafone remains technology neutral as far as our future network options are concerned, and joining the WiMax Forum is a logical step as we seek to evaluate the full capabilities and potential of this technology."

Analysts have repeatedly pointed out that WiMax will co-exist with 3G and its heirs -- there will not be a war won by either side, battlefields strewn with the corpses of dead mobiles and data cards, CTOs on crutches limping home defeated, telecoms marketing managers missing in action. Bravo to Vodafone for sitting down at the table rather than drawing its sword.