And in his research note issued today Delaney adds: "It says something about the way mobile has changed since the turn of the century, that joining the WiMax Forum just seems like an obviously sensible thing for Vodafone to do."

    Heavy Reading senior analyst Patrick Donegan is somewhat more cynical. "Anyone can join anything -- joining an organization is not a significant move," says Donegan, at the same time noting that Vodafone's interest in WiMax technology is natural.

    "Of course Vodafone is interested in WiMax –- it can be used as a fixed broadband technology," an area into which Vodafone is currently expanding with DSL offers as part of its Mobile Plus strategy, "and it can help them learn more about OFDMA [Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access]," the wireless access technology that underpins WiMax and LTE. (See Flat Is Back: Toward the All-IP Mobile Network, IDEA Cellular Reports Q4, Report: 3G Bests WiMax, Vodafone Uses AlcaLu DSLAM, and Vodafone UK Launches DSL.)

    Vodafone joins a host of other WiMax Forum carrier members, including AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T - message board), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai: BHARTIARTL - message board), BT Group plc (NYSE: BT - message board; London: BTA), China Telecommunications Corp. (NYSE: CHA - message board), Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT - message board), NTT Group (NYSE: NTT - message board), and Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF - message board). In total the Forum has more than 470 members from the vendor and carrier communities.