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Carrier Services
Sprint to launch first WiMAX service in Baltimore
Service slated to go live in September
by Doug Allen
Sprint has announced it will be the first provider to offer WiMAX
service. According to CEO Dan Hesse, speaking at his NXTcomm08 keynote,
Baltimore will be the lucky winner for first deployment rights, going
live in September. Chicago and Washington, D.C, having been “soft-launched” earlier this year, will follow in Q4.
On a separate occasion, Sprint Nextel CTO and president of the company’s Xohm WiMAX
business Barry West said that more than 575 WiMAX base station sites
are already operational, with a number of devices progressing quickly
through the testing process.
Though Sprint originally planned to launch service back in April, the
rollout fell behind schedule due to problems with provisioning
backhaul. Another spokesman, speaking on a separate occasion, claims
Sprint has solved the problem by using fiber-optic and microwave
links.
Customers can choose from an initial selection of devices
Samsung card, a ZyXEL modem, a ZTE USB dongle and the Nokia N810
Internet tablet as well as with WiMAX embedded laptops.
How does Clearwire, the national mobile WiMAX network coalition effort
led by Sprint along with cable players Comcast, Time Warner Cable,
Bright House Networks, Google and Intel, fit into this? There’s a
chance service will be available in Baltimore before the Clearwire
deal closes sometime this year. In that case, Sprint will offer the
service under the Xohm brand name for its WiMAX service. Sprint holds
about a 50 percent stake in the emerging network.
For now, Sprint is promising an introductory WiMAX rate between 3 to 6
Mbps downstream — Clearwire has pointed to 15 Mbps as an eventual
goal — for both data and voice. Broadband access for phones is a moving
target, due anywhere from late 2008 to some point beyond 2009.
Both Sprint and Clearwire will maintain open standards and networks,
promised Hesse, supporting any end-user device and compatible
software. Sprint plans to monitor device security while protecting the
new network from malicious security events.
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