Nokia, meanwhile, plans to provide WiMax devices "in coordination with the Xohm service," said Chris Staley, vice president of sales for Nokia North America, although he did not elaborate.

Hwan Chung, senior vice president for 4G wireless with Samsung Telecommunications America, said Samsung will deliver on its commitment to Xohm in the second quarter and is testing WiMax infrastructure and device interoperability. Among the products Samsung is developing are USB dongles with dual-mode (WiMax/Wi-Fi) capability, and laptop cards. In the second half of the year, he said the company will offer an ultramobile PC that will be WiMax enabled.

Chung also noted that WiMax service from a South Korean telecom provider is available now to 140,000 subscribers. "Based on the experience in Korea, I strongly believe Xohm WiMax will be a great success from the beginning," Chung said.

At CES, Intel, Motorola and Clearwire demonstrated WiMax capabilities in a Chevrolet Suburban that was driven around the streets of Las Vegas. The car was equipped with an Intel Core 2-based entertainment system built into the dashboard. The entertainment system included Web access, music, video and streaming internet TV, location-based services and GPS connected by WiMax.

Sharon Gaudin of Computerworld contributed to this report.