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Intel ‘may be guilty’ of over hyping Wi-Fi

Company president confesses

Intel has admitted it has contributed to the vast volume of hot air being used to inflate the Wi-Fi bubble, thanks to its multi-million dollar Unwired advertising campaign.

Speaking at the annual Telecosm conference, held in Squaw Valley, California yesterday, Intel president Paul Otellini warned: "Wi-Fi is in danger of being over-hyped."

But he admitted that Intel may have been part of the problem. "To some degree we may be guilty of that by spending hundreds of millions of dollars in our Centrino advertising campaign," he added.

But while Intel is trying to persuade punters that public Wi-Fi access is the Next Big Thing, it does at least appear to be putting its money where its mouth is, and rolling this stuff out itself.

Otellini told conference attendees that Intel will roll out WLANs in all its new buildings, though the reason for the move has more to do with cost that technology leadership: "It's the cheapest way of connecting," he said. ®

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