Motorola more than a year ago and has seen the wisdom of its move.

Brda said that there is a 70% "re-use" of its investment in WiMax research and development and production dollars with LTE gear, notably in the baseband control unit (BCU), a specialized computer that is deployed in the base stations with both protocols.

While both the WiMax and LTE radio interfaces will continue separately in parallel for years to come, Motorola's BCU2 technology used in WiMax deployments is being modified into BCU3 technology for LTE, he said.

"As we rollout LTE, the hardware will be based on third generation WiMax products, which is proven and field-hardened," he said.

Brda wouldn't say how many Motorola workers are actively developing WiMax and LTE products, but said R&D for WiMax and LTE is in the "hundreds of millions of dollars" annually.