Ars Technica has a piece on Intel's new wireless standard and current problems with freeing up the spectrum for its use.

But of more interest to me are the "proposed specs" for the standard:

. . . speeds of up to 70Mbps over a range of up to 30 miles. With that kind of performance, it could be a serious alternative to Fiber-To-The-Premises, not to mention current technologies such as DSL and cable. Its promise is strong not only in rural areas currently out of broadband's reach, but also in urban areas where aging infrastructure has made reliable broadband service problematic. Intel plans to begin equipping laptops with 802.16e chips in 2006 and providing chips for handsets in 2007, and other companies such as Fujitsu are also planning WiMAX-enabled chips and products.

Cable compaines and DSL providers must be sulking about this; if cell phone companies are smart, they'll be sticking a broadcaster on every one of their towers and selling ISP service--VoIP cell phones ;)