XOHM Baltimore: Small Step for Sprint, Giant Leap for 4G

Hey everybody! WiMAX is here! Get ready for super-blistering speeds, refrigerators that can e-mail you and a broad shroud of personalized, pervasive coverage. Plus, an open Internet economy that will rival the heady days of dot-com irrational exuberance, only without the crash!

Well, not really. Not yet. If ever. But Sprint-Nextel Corp. did indeed take the first step toward this oft-publicized 4G vision on Monday with the turn-up of the XOHM mobile broadband WiMAX network in Baltimore.

Sprint has said that XOHM is supposed to usher in an era of super high-speed wireless broadband where consumers buy affordable, unlocked, WiMAX-embedded consumer electronics devices (televisions, gaming devices, portable navigators, digital cameras, DVD players, microwaves, sunglasses, holographic conferencing devices, teleportation machines — you get the picture) at the Best Buys of the world. This in turn will spark an innovation wave of third-party application and device development that will turn the carrier business model on its head and make a lot of money for a lot of people while improving humanity as a whole. Because if the oven can text you to let you know it’s been set at 450 for a couple of hours now and you’re at work, according to your Outlook calendar, so should it shut down? That’s not only awesome, but energy efficient too.

That’s the buzz. But it’s in the early days of course, and for now the XOHM proposition looks a lot like any other network launch. Sprint is offering a $79.99 home modem and a $59.99 laptop card, while embedded and USB modems and the Nokia N810 Internet tablet are on their way. Service plans are competitive with 3G plans  $35-$65 per month, plus a Wi-Fi-like day rate for $10. As for coverage, well, you have Charm City for now, with spotty pockets within its city limits. Worth the money to be an early adopter? The $35 per month for home use certainly rivals DSL or cable pricing, but the mobile proposition  XOHM’s whole raison d’etre  at $45 per month might have to wait to be proven out until better coverage comes along.

Several markets are in the hopper for the rest of the year, including Chicago, Boston and Dallas, among others.

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