The IEEE ratified the 802.16e standard last week, and though the move was long-anticipated and largely a formality, Sai Subramanian, the leader of the WiMAX Forum's Mobile WiMAX task group, described the ratification as “a huge step in the direction we were already moving.”

“Until you have the final approval, there's always an outside chance that someone will disagree with what the standard says,” Subramanian said. The IEEE published the standard on its Web site two months ago, so the industry was well aware of the details.

The ratification also may quell some of the critics of Mobile WiMAX who have inferred that delays in the standards process could further delay the technology's commercial deployment. Subramanian, who also is vice president of product management at Navini Networks, said he is looking forward to talking to customers about Mobile WiMAX without having to use the disclaimer that it is not yet standardized.

Next up for 802.16e will be a series of vendor equipment plugfests leading up to the WiMAX Forum's Mobile WiMAX product certification test program, which likely will happen sometime in the second half of 2006, according to Mo Shakouri, vice president of marketing at the forum, and an official with vendor Alvarion.

“The forum has been working on a certification strategy for the last six months,” he said. “The biggest question is if enough vendors will have equipment ready for certification.”