The first WiMax wireless broadband laptop PC card was approved and is offered by Clearwire. The card should be available later this year.

Federal Communications Commission approved the WiMax laptop PC card which fits into a standard Type II laptop card slot and can be used with the Windows Vista and XP operating systems. The card works on Clearwire's WiMax network, which has been built with Motorola wi4 Expedience wireless networking equipment.

The approvment of the high performance WiMax card should increase the use of WiMax, Clearwire said in a statement.

Clearwire currently offers broadband wireless services in the U.S. and Europe. The company had 206,000 subscribers at the end of last year, from just 1,000 in 2004.

As of the end of last year, Clearwire services were available to 9.6 million people, including 8.6 million throughout the U.S., and one million in Brussels, Belgium and Dublin, Ireland.

WiMax is a wireless digital communications system, also known as IEEE 802.16, that is intended for wireless 'metropolitan area networks'.  
WiMax can provide broadband wireless access (BWA) up to 30 miles (50 km) for fixed stations, and 3 - 10 miles (5 - 15 km) for mobile stations. In contrast, the WiFi/802.11 wireless local area network standard is limited in most cases to only 100 - 300 feet (30 - 100m).

More about WiMax you can find in this article: What is WiMax?

written by Cristian L.