http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/mobil...z-spectrum.htm

August 08, 2006

Sprint Chooses WiMAX to Deploy in 2.5 GHz Spectrum

By Robert Liu, TMCnet Executive Editor


Sprint (News - Alert) Nextel, the nation’s largest holder of radio spectrum in the precious 2.5 GHz band, has reportedly chosen to deploy Worldwide Interoperability of Microwave Access (WiMAX) as the foundation of its technology platform for the carrier’s mobile broadband Next-Generation Network (NGN) build-out.

The company has scheduled a mid-day press conference to announce its 4G technology decision. Sprint President & CEO Gary D. Forsee, who is scheduled to be in New York, will also provide details on its 4G business model, financials expectations and network build-out timing.

The decision is a clear win for Intel (News - Alert) and its ecosystem of partners that have spent years to develop the 802.16-2004 (Fixed) and 802.16e-2005 (Mobile) WiMAX specifications. WiMAX is a sister technology to the widely deployedWiFi ( News - Alert) wireless local area networking standard; however, its usage isn't only restricted to unlicensed radio spectrum.

“This is very positive for the space as a whole,” said Daniel Meron, analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Previously, Sprint Spokesman John Polivka has confirmed the carrier conducted a number of technical trials in order to evaluate various broadband platforms. Sprint tested a UMTS-based technology dubbed TD-CDMA, supplied by a tiny company that’s attracted a lot of attention known as IPWireless. Along the way, Sprint invested a total of $14 million of financing into IPWireless.

In addition, Sprint also trialed another broadband technology called Flash-OFDM supplied by Flarion Technologies, now a part of Qualcomm (News - Alert). Through the Nextel division, the company had test trials running in North Carolina until June 2005.

But speculation about WiMAX increased substantially after Intel invested about $600 million into another operator founded by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw called Clearwire earlier this summer. Following the move, analysts like Meron believed the decision to fortify Clearwire, the second-largest holder of radio spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, heavily influenced Sprint toward the WiMAX camp by creating a logical roaming partner.

To be sure, WiMAX (in particular, its Mobile flavor) is still relatively untested – a point that certainly hasn’t been forgotten by executives like Jon Hambidge, Vice President of Global Marketing at IPWireless.

“One frustration we've had as a company is we're showing real technology in real trials, not PowerPoints,” Hambidge said in previous interviews with TMCnet.

 

Wat does this mean to me, THE CUSTOMER???

 

It should be like wifi that large institutions put up, my school might be getting us WiMAX service around campus for our wireless internet. Who knows how they will use this, but it offers a ton of bandwidth and who knows how that translates to cell phones.

 

I forsee VoIP using smartphones.

 

Oh yes. Though it's not really VOIP, i have been using skype over my EVDO sprint PPC6700, and it works great. The calls are clear and i come through clear as well as no delay.