Intel has begun to sell its Pentium M processor for notebooks as a chip for networking devices, part of the company's long, slow slog to become a dominant manufacturer in the communications market.

The Pentium M, which debuted last month in Centrino notebooks, will essentially function as the nerve center inside telecommunications servers running virtual private networks, voice over IP applications, voice messaging systems or firewalls.

Nokia Networks has already said it will use the chip in some of its networking products. Other companies, such as QNX and Momentum Computer, are also building products for Pentium M-based communications equipment.

Intel currently sells its Xeon and other processors into this market, but the Pentium M holds fairly strong potential because it uses less energy than other Intel processors. A Xeon chip, originally designed for standard servers from the computing world, can consume 35 or more watts of energy, said Jonathan Luse, communications industry marketing manager for Intel.

By contrast, the Pentium M comes with a thermal envelope, or maximum power rating, of 12 to 25 watts.

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