Given all the acquisitions and investments Intel has made in network firms this year, it's not surprising that the company is reorganising as it heads into the new year.

The three major organisational changes announced by Intel last week include:

* An expansion of the company's network silicon business, with the addition of embedded controllers and microprocessors for the communications industry * New responsibilities for Chief Financial Officer Andy Bryant, who will be chief financial and enterprise services officer in charge of overseeing Intel's e-business strategy for customers and suppliers, as well as company-wide IT and finance support * The formation of a Wireless Communications and Computing Group, focusing on cellular and wireless communications.

Esmerelda Silva, an analyst with International Data Corp. (IDC), says Intel's aggressive moves into the network processor and wireless communications fields should pay off for the company given that both areas are hot and complement Intel's high-end processor business. By spinning off the network and wireless communications businesses into separate groups, Intel should be able to develop products more quickly and get them to market faster, she says.

John Miner, an Intel vice president and general manager of the company's communications products, says the increasing intelligence of corporate and public networks should spur demand for wireless and other devices that can tap into those networks.

"We are going to be a building block supplier for the Internet economy, and there are four areas in particular that are going to allow us to be significant -- clients, networking, servers, and services," Miner says.

What Intel won't do is openly go after the market for big enterprise networks. "We will stay focused on small to mid-sized companies and the service providers who support them," Miner says.