There's an article on the WiMAX Trends site by Robert Syputa, senior analyst for Maravedis, that I wish I had written. I like it because it cuts through the bull that most of the wireless industry pitches on the issue of whether broadband wireless technologies like WiMAX, particularly in the mobile format for which it is destined, will be competitive with high-speed cellular data platforms such as EV-DO.

While most of the rest of the industry comes down squarely in the middle, claiming that WiMAX and EV-DO are "complementary" technologies, Syputa comes right out and says that the whole thing will boil down to a smack-down between Intel and Qualcomm.

Syputa's article is plainly titled "Intel Against Qualcomm: Clash of the Titans," and his argument is concise and dead-on: He gives a brief history of Intel's history of dominance in the microprocessor realm in just about every area save wireless. His thesis is crystallized in one sentence: "Intel needs WiMAX to succeed because it counters the control on markets by Qualcomm that will drive lifestyle enhancements and productivity gains over the coming decades."

It's absolutely true that Intel's future in wireless (shored up by what it managed to accomplish in its Wi-Fi efforts) now rests squarely on the success of mobile WiMAX. I also believe it's likely that Qualcomm will do everything in its formidable power to make EV-DO and future CDMA-based technologies reign supreme.

I strongly urge anyone following this important and evolving story--which Syputa refers to as "the 'fight of the century' between the cellular camp heralded by Qualcomm and the IT/networking and emerging open field of WBB/WiMAX heralded by Intel"--to read his compelling analysis.

E-mail me at jmeyers@primediabusiness.com.