The ranks of the WiMAX Forum, the non-profit industry group dedicated to promoting the interoperability and certification of broadband wireless products based on the IEEE's 802.16 standard, swelled this week with the additions of two new members: enterprise mobility developer Symbol Technologies and metropolitan Wi-Fi systems supplier Tropos Networks.

The announcements mark the first new additions to the WiMAX Forum since Cisco Systems signed on in mid-September. Tropos is the first metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh networking systems vendor to join.

The WiMAX Forum now counts about 140 members, in addition to some three dozen applications for membership still under review. The group plans to begin certification testing for interoperability of forum-certified products in 2005.