Commentary: OPA an impetus or barrier to WiMAX industry?

The initial response of Taiwan-based WiMAX hardware makers to the formation of the Open Patent Alliance (OPA) are questions as to whether the OPA will work as an impetus to the WiMAX industry or a barrier that will prevent others from entering the industry.

While more time is need to see how the newly inaugurated OPA operates, the initial list of those in the alliance indicates the role to be played by Intel in the advancement of the WiMAX industry is worthy of observation, said Taiwan makers.

In addition to Intel, whether other WiMAX chipmakers will also participate in the OPA in the future will have a significant impact on the global WiMAX ecosystem, Taiwan makers argued.

In contrast to Intel, other WiMAX chipmakers are relatively small as far as production scale is concerned, and so the patent licenses and other protection that smaller chipmakers can offer to hardware makers will be rather limited.

With the absence of other small WiMAX chipmakers in the OPA, WiMAX hardware makers will have no choice but to seek cooperation with chip vendors that are already enrolled in the OPA, and this will stir up a major shift of the WiMAX ecosystem, Taiwan makers said.

While Qualcomm has created some negative effects in the development of the 3G industry, it remains to be seen whether the operation of the OPA will accelerate the advancement of the WiMAX industry.

Nevertheless, it is a surprise for Taiwan makers to see Cisco Systems listed as an initial member of the OPA, while Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Motorola are not included. Cisco is a relatively new comer to the WiMAX industry, while NSN is a major supplier of WiMAX base stations to Clearwire and Motorola is a major WiMAX solution vendor.

The question is: Will the formation of the OPA lead to a confrontation similar to that of Sony and Philips in the DVD industry?

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