It's been a while since we first heard from the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), but the group backed by wireless heavy hitters including Intel, Broadcom and Atheros has now delivered their first unified 60GHz specification as promised. The new wireless standard supports data transfer rates of up to 7Gbps within a 10-meter range – more than ten times faster than 802.11n – while remaining backwards compatible with current technology.

For distances greater than 10 meters the network will automatically switch to Wi-Fi at the speed of 600 megabits per second, just like traditional 802.11n, with a range of 100 meters. The 7Gbps figure represents the theoretical maximum speed, of course, but the technology is said to be so efficient that users should be able to use at least 80 percent of that bandwidth in real world scenarios.

The completed specification is ready for member review and will be made available to more than 25 WiGig adopter members in Q1 2010. Competing technologies include Wireless High Definition Interface (WHDI), which also completed its standard this week, as well as Wireless HD and the Wi-Fi Alliance's own 802.11AD standard.