Wi-Fi Compatibility Alliance Gains Clout

The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) announced Monday that 11 new companies have joined its growing roster of members, marking an increasing demand for Wi-Fi compliant products that support the proliferation of Wireless ISP’s and Wi-Fi network aggregators.

A nonprofit organization formed in 1999 to certify interoperability of Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) products, WECA is not only amassing widespread industry support for the interoperability of wireless local-area network (LAN) standards, but it also conducts interoperability certification tests through an Agilent Technologies certification lab on Wi-Fi products.

Products bearing a Wi-Fi logo can work with all other certified products, creating a pool of WECA-approved Wi-Fi products that support interoperability within the wireless industry.

WECA’s members currently represent more than 300 Wi-Fi-certified products.

Membership in WECA is open to companies that support the Wi-Fi standard and is now numbered at 147 members, among whom are some of the industry’s biggest names, including Apple, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Nokia, Conexant, 3Com, Cisco, Dell, Fijitsu, and Lucent Technologies.

WECA’s newest members include silicon providers, wireless LAN equipment providers, PC and networking component makers, and companies that focus on the integration of wireless LAN and wireless wide-area networks (WAN).

“New types of companies are joining WECA, which signals that the industry is changing,” said Dennis Eaton, chairman of WECA. “These newer types of companies include organizations that focus on cordless telephone technology and companies that offer solutions to bridge wireless LAN and wireless WAN technologies communications, a convergence trend that seems to be centered around Wi-Fi. This is truly a very exciting time.”

New WECA recruits include: Adjungo Networks, a Mountain View, Calif.-based next-generation mobile communications provider; Bermai, Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based chip maker for both wireless LAN and fixed access applications; Binatone, a manufacturer of next-generation messaging and telephony products; Chou Chin Industrial Co., Ltd., a China-based manufacturer of products for broadband Internet access; Marvel Semiconductor Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based developer of broadband systems for Internet connectivity and infrastructure; and Thomson Multimedia, a provider of home entertainment products and services for DSL CPE technology.

Others include Giga-Byte Technology Co., Lantech Computer company, Planex Communications, Sunny Bell Technology, and Tecom Co, Ltd.

For more articles on Wi-Fi, please refer to: http://www.80211hotspots.com/

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