Sprint Reaffirms WiMAX Commitment

Sprint Nextel Corp. reaffirmed its commitment to WiMAX this week, with the announcement of nine new ecosystem partners and a reassurance that commercial launch is on track for April.

Recently reeling from the ouster of its CEO – Gary Forsee, now replaced with former EMBARQ chief Dan Hesse – plunging third-quarter profits and the dissolution of its alliance with Clearwire Corp. to jointly build a national WiMAX footprint, Sprint’s plans for its expensive WiMAX initiative have been murky and thrown into doubt, despite the December soft launch of the service in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington D.C. But Sprint CTO Barry West, speaking on a panel at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, said that Sprint's Xohm WiMAX network plans remain in place, with a commercial launch in “several cities” on track for April. West also divulged that pricing will range from $30 to $60 per month.

Meanwhile, other signs point to the carrier’s WiMAX strategy getting back on track. Earlier this week Sprint announced relationships with Amdocs (software and services), SwapDrive (hosted storage), eTelecare Global Solutions (business process outsourcing), McAfee (online security), and Zyxel and Sequans (WiMAX modem subscriber devices).

Perhaps most tellingly, it also said it has hired Soho Square as its advertising agency, to help launch Xohm. Expect flashy television commercials to rear their heads soon.

There has been movement on the device side as well. Sprint has been working with Nokia, Motorola Inc. and Intel Corp.; Intel says its WiFi/WiMAX laptop card will be available this year. The fifth-largest laptop maker, Asus, has announced at CES that it has committed to Intel's WiMAX chip, and OQO said it will develop ultramobile PCs with embedded WiMAX.

Investment analyst firm ThinkEquity said that it expects Sprint’s WiMAX momentum to be such that its Clearwire alliance will be reborn. “We believe Sprint's next step is to rebuild its Clearwire alliance,” it said in a brief. “Advantages to Sprint include lower capital requirements, reduced operating expenses, the ability to swap spectrum to gain needed depth in planned service areas, quicker national network coverage, the ability to leverage Clearwire's relevant 4G operational experience, and gaining another distribution channel for its 3G and backhaul services…We note that the companies continue their discussions on the subject, and see no significant obstacle to its conclusion.”

Sprint Nextel www.sprint.com

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