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May 12, 2008
Sprint, Clearwire Take on Telcos with WiMAXIn an important development for wireless broadband competition, Sprint (News - Alert) Nextel and Clearwire have agreed to combine their WiMAX
 businesses to create a jointly owned wireless communication venture.Story continues below ↓
To be branded Clearwire (News - Alert), the new company will develop a nationwide WiMAX
network using Sprint and Clearwire’s spectrum assets at 2.5 gHz. Combined, the two companies’ spectrum holdings cover most metropolitan and suburban areas of the United States.The new Clearwire could prove to be a significant competitor to the wireless broadband networks planned by incumbent telcos, which, until this announcement, had been the only planned nationwide mobile Internet service offerings.
The new company brings in what are termed “strategic investors” — Intel through Intel Capital, Google, Comcast (News - Alert), Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. These major cable and Internet companies provide, not only capital, but also services, technology, and fixed networks that will be important adjuncts to the establishment of a successful mobile Internet offering.
Some of these “strategic investors,” — Google, Comcast, and Time Warner — had been rumored as potential bidders for chunks of the 700 MHz spectrum recently auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). However, none acquired spectrum in that sale, possibly because the opportunity for this new venture was developing.
The unTelco
The approach taken with the new Clearwire wireless broadband venture contrasts sharply with the wireless broadband networks currently being planned by the incumbent telcos — AT&T (News - Alert) and Verizon — in both technology and services.
After they won the lion’s share of the 700 MHz spectrum recently auctioned by the FCC, AT&T and Verizon have indicated they intend to deploy a technology called long-term evolution (LTE), a wireless-broadband system linked to existing mobile technologies, which are based on traditional circuit-switched technology. The Clearwire venture will use WiMAX, a technology linked closely to conventional Ethernet and the Internet, which are based on Internet protocol
packet networking.Further, Sprint has been vocal in declaring that it will follow an Internet model of doing business: It plans to offer network access and services separately, although new packet network services, such as VoIP
, may be part of Sprint’s portfolio. AT&T and Verizon seem to be taking an approach to wireless broadband that reflects their traditional ways of doing business, where the network and the services customers are required to buy services as well as bandwidth from the service provider.Also, the Clearwire service is really three services, combining existing mobile networking with the new WiMAX and WiFi
. First, there will be a combined Sprint mobile/WiMAX offering, aimed at a wide range of dev Charlotte Wolter is a TMCnet contributing editor. Wolter has been a technology journalist and analyst for 20 years, managing publications, writing articles and reports, and providing consultation about market trends. To view her columnist page, click here.ices from dual mode phones and PDAs to laptops with access devices. Second, there will be a combined WiFi (News - Alert)/WiMAX offering, primarily aimed at data transmission. Finally, there will be a WiMAX service aimed at single-purpose devices, such as cameras, that will use the network to transmit pictures or video instantly to storage or for live transmission. Other services can be developed as demand picks up.
Speeding with WiMAX
The new service seems to be on a fast track for deployment. Commercial service is planned for “early next year,” according to Sprint. The company did not give a firm date, saying the launch of the service depended on “regulatory approvals.”
Sprint already has its own mobile WiMAX trial providing service in three cities, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, to Sprint employees. Clearwire also has a fixed WiMAX offering in Portland, Oregon.
Fixed WiMAX already is widely deployed and considered successful with more than 200 installations worldwide, but Mobile WiMAX remains to be proven widely in the field. Early deployments of WiBro, a Korean variant of Mobile WiMAX, are reportedly successful, and other deployments in Europe, as well as the new Clearwire network, are scheduled for the next year.
WiMAX is further along in its technological development than LTE, but, until the Sprint-Clearwire announcement, the lack of extensive deployment plans for Mobile WiMAX had some analysts giving the edge to LTE in the race for a worldwide mobile Internet offering. The Sprint-Clearwire partnership, with its strong support from leading players, changes that equation, possibly giving the edge to Mobile WiMAX as the broadband network of the future.
Charlotte Wolter is a TMCnet contributing editor. Wolter has been a technology journalist and analyst for 20 years, managing publications, writing articles and reports, and providing consultation about market trends. To view her columnist page, click here. | |||||||
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