WiMax Wins 3G Certification from ITU

Pre-4G WiMax is now officially certified as 3G by the UN’s International Telecommunication Union, making it the sixth 3G standard. To cut through the alphabet soup (sort of), the ITU stamp means WiMax can use airwaves designated for 3G, which changes the game in terms of 3G/WiMax competition—to what extent remains to be seen, obviously. Moreover, it should bring a healthy dose of development and investment to the WiMax scene globally, so there’s a pretty big grin streaking the face of WiMax Forum members right now. For us, it means broader deployment and (hopefully) cheaper prices. [PC World, Yahoo!/AP]