There is a lot of debate right now about who will have the right approach,

It will be ubiquitous and a monster opportunity.

It's hard to imagine how this is a security threat, ... They clearly don't want the competition.

It's a very good question. The whole process has definitely gotten more political over the years. The technology used in this standard is the future of wireless (local area networks). It's very important for companies involved to get their market positioning up-front and establish themselves as players as soon as possible.

to serve a fairly wide geographic area.

There are three reasons to deploy wireless. You can't install wire, for whatever reason. Wireless is cheaper over a given time. Or you need mobility.