WiMAX has been added to the list of approved 3G radio access technologies in the IMT-2000 standard, as defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The addition of WiMAX to W-CDMA, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA/TD-CDMA, EDGE and DECT, brings the number of access technologies approved to six.
"WiMAX technology has the potential to reach 2.7 billion people," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. "Today's announcement expands the reach to a significantly larger global population."
Proposals will be put forward at the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, requesting additional spectrum for the deployment of the IMT 3G-type systems worldwide. The proposals will take into account the addition of IEEE802.16 WiMAX standards.
See also: Electronics Weekly's Focus on WiMAX, a roundup of content related to the next-gen wireless comms technology.