The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently approved a WiMax laptop card that will connect users to Clearwire's WiMax wireless broadband network. Even though Clearwire's network presence is limited to a few dozen markets in the U.S., this is a big step forward for WiMax.

WiMax has been on the horizon for some time now. Last summer's announcement from Sprint (that it plans to deploy a WiMax network by the end of this year) kick-started things in the U.S. to some degree. While Sprint is busy working on its trial launch markets with technology partners Samsung, Motorola, and Nokia, Clearwire has been putting up WiMax networks in about a dozen states. Located mostly in the West and South, Clearwire provides last-mile broadband connectivity in lieu of cable or DSL broadband.

WiMax will play an increasingly important role in mobility, but it remains to be determined if it will be adopted more widely by enterprise users or consumers. A lot of that will depend on the types of WiMax-enabled devices that hit the market. Adding a laptop PC Card to its offering may spur an increase in enterprise customers using the Clearwire service.

"The FCC's approval of our laptop card is a significant milestone in bringing to market a 'true broadband' wireless service with a device that facilitates even greater portability than our existing modem permits," said Perry Satterlee, Clearwire president and chief operating officer. "We expect the new laptop card to broaden our potential customer base with more opportunities for customers to access and experience our wireless broadband services."

According to Clearwire, the card itself is a standard Type II laptop card and and is compatible only with Microsoft's Vista and XP operating systems. It will use Motorola's wi4 Expedience solution and is expected to be available in the second half of 2007.

Clearwire has a long way to go in the United States, though. Just 206,000 subscribers use its WiMax systems in the 37 U.S. markets and abroad (no breakdown was available to see how many users are in the United States alone.)