At Unstrung, Michelle Donegan and Dan Jones note that Ericsson appears to be calling a halt to its WiMax development efforts in order to focus on 3G cellular technology.

"Mikael Persson, in strategy and business development at Ericsson, is scheduled to speak at the WiMax MEGNA conference next month in Dubai to explain why Ericsson decided in December last year to discontinue development of WiMax infrastructure in favor of high-speed packet access (HSPA) 3G technology, according to the conference brochure," the article states.

The entry in the brochure is as follows:

Ericsson has chosen as of December 2006 to discontinue development in WiMax infrastructure. This presentation will outline some of the key areas Ericsson considered before choosing to abandon this technology in favour of HSPA (High Speed Packet Access). Specific areas for discussion include; historical lessons learnt around establishing a standard to achieving the mass market growth, comparison of physical performance of WiMax versus HSPA and finally some poignant questions as to the commercial viability of WiMax, given the ongoing success of HSPA and the needs this platform can deliver to, for operators, developers and end users alike both now and in the future.