Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, said it has started providing customers with test versions of chips for equipment that will enable long-range wireless high-speed Internet surfing.

The final versions of the chips for so-called WiMax services will be introduced within the next 12 months, Intel Executive Vice-President Sean Maloney said at the International Telecommunication Union conference in Busan, South Korea.

Intel, which gets more than 80 percent of its sales from computer chips, has been pushing into the market for semiconductors for cell-phones and communications gear to compete with rivals such as Texas Instruments Inc.

``In another two years you are going to see WiMax used pretty heavily globally,'' said Maloney, 48, in an interview.

Maloney took over Santa Clara, California-based Intel's unprofitable communications chip division in January. Lower-than- expected demand has led to rising inventories of cell-phone semiconductors, which may lead Intel to write off the value of some of the products, the company said last week as it lowered its forecast for third-quarter sales.

Maloney, who declined to elaborate on current business conditions, predicted that WiMax chips will be built into notebook computers starting in 2006 and handsets in 2007.

``We feel confident that this is a realistic schedule,'' he said. ``It's looking in really good shape.''

WiMax is designed to allow users to surf the Internet wirelessly across a city or rural area. A similar system known as wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, lets people log on over wireless connections at short ranges and is popular in locations such as coffee shops and hotel lobbies.

Market researcher Gartner Inc. estimates that 620 million units of cell-phones will be sold this year, a fifth more than last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Chang in Busan, South Korea at gchang1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 6, 2004 23:32 EDT