"With Mobile WiMAX, Koreans can take the broadband Internet access they have enjoyed for years in their home on the road," said Intel's chief executive Paul Otellini as Korean telco KT and Intel announced that they are going to collaborate on WiBro 802.16e and WiMAX in the South Korean market.

WiMAX would provide high-speed data access to areas in South Korea as large as a small-sized city, making it an ideal way to spread cheap yet ubiquitous wireless broadband access.

"We are very, very optimistic that WiMAX will provide an alternative broadband channel into the home," Otellini said at a news conference in Seoul to make the announcement.

75% of South Korea's population of 48 million have Internet access, 12 million of them with high-speed connections - the highest broadband penetration rate in the world.  So Korean is the perfect laboratory for experiments in mobile broadband.

Back in the U.S., the U.S. Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) said recently in a report that it expects WiFi and WiMAX infrastructure revenue  to reach $5.2 billion and $115 million respectively in 2005.

"The Wi-Fi equipment market is increasing at a fast pace and will continue to grow as hot spots proliferate," the reports stated.

"An emerging WiMAX equipment market will also contribute to growth in the coming years.  We expect revenue from spending on wireless capital expenditures/Wi-Fi/WiMAX to reach an estimated $22.3 billion in 2005, climbing to $29.3 billion by 2008, a 7.1 percent compound annual gain."