Nortel Networks has wisely joined the WiMAX Forum. I expect the rest of the major telecoms network vendors to be following along, albeit reluctantly. I don't envy these vendors. They spent the past few years avidly promoting conventional "3G" technologies like UMTS and EV-DO only only to find some other technology, backed by Intel of all companies, hogging the spotlight.

My advice to Nortel is this: embrace WiMAX. Figure out how to layer WiMAX and 3G seamlessly and then go back to your carrier clients and beat out the likes of Alvarion and Flarion. Carriers would much rather stick with their existing vendors than try out an upstart vendor. But timing is critical.