March 10, 2008
Sprint Phone First to Use Fast Network

NEW YORK (AP) — Sprint Nextel Corp. is upgrading one of its cell phone models so that it can connect to a faster data network, doubling its download speeds and boosting upload speeds by about eight times.

Both Sprint and Verizon Wireless operate so-called EV-DO Rev. A networks, but have used them only for laptop cards. Their fastest phones have used the older and slower EV-DO Rev. 0 network.

Sprint said Monday it was releasing a software update for the Mogul phone, made by HTC Corp. of Taiwan, that will enable the phone to connect at Rev. A speeds. Downloads speeds should be 600 kilobits per second to 1,400 kbps, up from a range of 400 kbps to 700 kbps with Rev. 0. It will be capable of uploads of 350 to 500 kbps, up from 50 kbps to 70 kbps.

Sprint said its broadband network now covers 234 million people, and the vast majority of it has been upgraded to EV-DO Rev. A, short for Evolution-Data Optimized Revision A.

The Mogul is a smart phone that runs Windows Mobile software and can be used as a modem for a laptop. It costs $199.99 with a two-year contract and went on sale in June. The software update will be available immediately from HTC's site.

Verizon Wireless has not announced a phone using Rev. A. Spokeswoman Brenda Raney said the main advantage of Rev. A is higher upload speeds, which is important to laptop users but less so for cell-phone users.

AT&T Inc. already sells phones that use its fastest network technology, known as HSDPA, for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. Its listed download speed is the same as EV-DO Rev. A, with a slightly higher upload speed.

March 10, 2008
WiMAX is back … or at least some people think it is
If all the stars align, big things could happen for Clearwire and Sprint

A promising wireless technology is resurfacing even though many in the industry have—for probably the hundredth time— given up on it. WiMAX, said a financial analyst who’s paid to look at such things, is far from dead, despite dire predictions about Sprint Nextel’s commitment and the nonchalance with which the cable industry apparently views its potential. Eric Kainer, a senior analyst for IP Communications with ThinkEquity Partners, even thinks Sprint’s comrade-in-WiMAX arms Clearwire should excel in 2008 if things align correctly.

“Because of the situation with the two license holders here— Sprint has 60-65 percent of the spectrum necessary and Clearwire has 35-40 percent of it—neither of these guys are tremendously financially well-capitalized powerful firms at this point,” Kainer concedes. “It’s going to take a little bit of dancing before they get this fully funded (but) once they get this funded these Clearwire guys are the smartest guys in the room.”

Money fuels everything in telecommunications, and WiMAX— under a number of different fixed broadband wireless names— has drained more than a few pockets over the years, leading to an acceptable amount of skittishness when it comes to taking yet another shot at the next generation of mobile wireless.

“The technology wasn’t quite ready,” Kainer insists. “People just got tired of hearing about WiMAX for so long ... and they begin to think it’s never going to happen. They’re making exactly the opposite mistake when it comes to LTE.”

LTE’s another next-gen subject. For now, Kainer’s touting the benefits of WiMAX and, in particular, mobile WiMAX and is unabashedly “high on Clearwire (as) the innovation platform for a network for years go come.” Sprint, he concedes, “is a work in progress” and both service providers need financial and technological partners.

“Clearwire already has a nice relationship that they’ve established with DISH (Networks) and DirecTV which hopefully ends up getting launched operationally this year,” he says. Sprint is loosely tied to the cable industry in a Pivot relationship that is seemingly going nowhere.

“They’ve basically pulled the plug on it. They haven’t killed it; they’ve just stopped marketing,” Kainer says.

That doesn’t mean that cable guys don’t value wireless. Despite straightforward guidance by Comcast boss Brian Roberts that his company won’t pursue a wireless track in 2008, Kainer believes it will. Again, he’s looking at things from a financial perspective and it wouldn’t make sense not to buy in when things are cheap.

“If you’re going to ever do wireless, you want to get your bets in when you can get the best return from them,” he says. “If Comcast doesn’t get in on WiMAX this year, they’re going to be paying much more money for a vastly inferior service than if they stepped up the bucks this year. Quite frankly, I don’t know that it’s an enormous amount of money they need to put in here.”

How much?
“Maybe they end up putting in $1 billion,” he says without a visible trace of irony. “If they’re ever going to have a mobile triple play to pair with their fixed triple play, this is the way to do it.”

The place to put that money is with Sprint Nextel and/or Clearwire since they hold the spectrum and have already started deploying WiMAX, Kainer believes. In fact, he thinks it’s possible that Sprint Nextel and Clearwire will resume the close dance they broke off last year.

“Can (Sprint) thrive without the cable guys? Can they thrive without partners? No, they can’t,” he says. “This is a very different world. When we start talking about the proliferation of services that need to transit multiple networks in order to go from subscriber to subscriber, everybody needs partners.”

Unless, of course, if they’re AT&T or Verizon and they already have all the parts they need.

“The trap here for AT&T and Verizon is to look and say ‘Look at how much better we are than pitiful little Sprint,’” he says. “Out of weakness can be born the seeds of strength and that’s exactly what I think can happen here.”

February 7, 2008
100 million WiMAX subscribers by 2014, says Maravedis

Device variety and large-scale deployments to drive growth

A new report by the Maravedis analyst firm predicts the number of WiMAX subscribers worldwide will top 100 million by 2014. It is slightly more bullish than a report published earlier this year by Juniper Research, which predicted 80 million WiMAX subscribers by 2013 (Mobile WiMAX subscribers to exceed 80 million by 2013, predicts Juniper Research) but the reasoning of the two analyst companies are the same: more devices (and applications) will drive adoption.

“WiMAX chipsets will start to be embedded in laptops in the second half of 2008, into handheld devices in 2009, and into consumer electronics by early 2010,” says Adlane Fellah, president and CEO of Maravedis and co-author of its yearly report, WiMAX, LTE and Broadband Wireless Worldwide Market Trends. “This is definitely a key assumption, as large scale deployments by companies such as BSNL and Sprint start to materialize in 2008-2009 despite current challenges.”

As opposed to the 3GGP camp, whose IPR is dominated by Qualcomm, WiMAX suppliers are making concerted efforts to lower royalties through cooperation with each other (WiMAX IPR is held by a wide variety of suppliers). In this way, WiMAX hopes to become embedded into a multitude of devices without any dramatic increases in device cost.

There are still some hurdles for WiMAX to overcome, not least the absence of any certified devices for the mobile WiMAX standard (802.16e). This has not stopped, however, a slew of pre-certified devices coming onto market. “As predicted by Maravedis, more than 100 mobile WiMAX devices have been announced or made available commercially,” says Jeff Orr, senior analyst at Maravedis and co-author of the report. The first certified mobile devices are expected to arrive this year.

While Sprint Nextel is generally viewed as the flagship mobile WiMAX network in terms of scale, which is expected to go live Q208, India has enormous WiMAX potential. BSNL and VSNL are already rolling out extensive fixed WiMAX networks across India’s major cities and the Indian government is expected this spring to auction 20MHz of spectrum in the 2.5GHz band to two more players (20MHz each).

BSNL has already been awarded 20MHz spectrum in the 2.5GHz band, which, unlike the 3.3GHz band currently used for fixed WiMAX rollouts in India, is standardized (better economies of scale) and designed for customer self- installation. Fixed WiMAX equipment, due to lack of in- building coverage, can require truck rollouts to mount the outdoor CPE on the building, which puts added pressure on the business case.

January 30, 2008
Sprint, Clearwire Talks Back on the Table

Sprint Nextel and wireless broadband provider Clearwire are reportedly back in talks about combining their efforts for a national WiMAX network. According to reports, the two are discussing a joint deal that they hope will attract funding from other WiMAX backers such as Intel. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the two also have approached Google and electronics store Best Buy about financing.

Sprint, which has started rolling out a WiMAX network in parts of the country, has said that it hopes to reach 100 million consumers by the end of this year. Analysts have speculated that the struggling carrier will not have the funds to actually build out the network on deadline.

Last year, Sprint and Clearwire announced a WiMAX partnership, but talks fell apart as Sprint ousted then-president Gary Forsee and continued to lose wireless subscribers.

Reports now speculate that Sprint is looking to spin-off its WiMAX unit and to merge the unit with Clearwire.

January 8, 2008
Sprint Nextel zooming with Xohm - Carrier inks slew of WiMAX deals

Sprint Nextel Corp. made several announcements this week that lend a sense of momentum to the carrier’s plans to deploy its WiMAX service, dubbed Xohm, on schedule.

Since the collapse last year of a Sprint Nextel deal with Clearwire Corp. to mesh their WiMAX efforts, and a change of CEOs at Sprint Nextel, the carrier’s plans have been under internal review and the subject of external speculation.

The carrier’s Xohm news this week included tangible devices designed to run on the Xohm network, and Sprint Nextel deals with a range of vendors.

OQO Inc. demonstrated an ultra mobile PC compatible with Sprint’s Xohm service at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday, but buried in the related press release is a caveat that may continue to fuel doubts that Sprint Nextel would like to quell.

“OQO today is announcing a technology demonstration … and is not presently making available a product for sale with such functionality,” the San Francisco-based device maker said in a release under OQO’s letterhead, which quotes a Sprint Nextel executive. “With this announcement, OQO does not make any representations about product availability.”

No such caveats were expressed in Sprint Nextel-issued press releases announcing a deal with Amdocs, a company that will support a mobile portal for Xohm’s service offerings by providing service activation, provisioning and customer service, and with advertising agency Soho Square, which will help build the Xohm brand in the United States. Deals were also announced with SwapDrive for hosted data storage, with eTelecare Global Solutions for customer service and with McAfee Inc. for online security. Details on the terms of those deals were not provided.

Other device makers at CES in Las Vegas that announced plans to support Xohm -- but which apparently fall short of hard commitments -- include Taiwan-based ASUSTek, which said it will pursue a line of WiMAX-compatible devices for availability this year, and Zyxel Inc., an Anaheim, Calif.-based company pursuing a WiMAX modem for subscribers.

Sprint Nextel reiterated its soft launch, now underway with Sprint Nextel employees, in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and has said it will spend $5 billion on its U.S. WiMAX network within three years.

Intel Corp., a key backer of the U.S. carrier’s WiMAX efforts, said yesterday that it predicted widespread deployment of the technology over the next two years, including in Russia and Japan, according to a report by Reuters.

December 12, 2007
Sprint Nextel on track for WiMAX launch by year-end
Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to turn on three WiMAX test markets within the next two weeks, meeting its self-imposed deadline to roll out the technology by the end of this year.

Sprint Nextel spokesman John Polivka confirmed that “several hundred” company employees will begin participating in the soft launch by Christmas, using data cards to test out the capabilities of the WiMAX network. The carrier had long planned to turn on the network in the Chicago and Baltimore/Washington D.C. markets by the end of 2007, and those plans are holding up despite Sprint Nextel’s operational troubles and the recent collapse of a deal with Clearwire Corp. to accelerate the deployment of a nationwide WiMAX network.

The soft launch will occur in two stages, according to Polivka: The first phase involving several hundred employees will start in the next few weeks, followed by a second stage during the first quarter of next year that will expand the number of participants. A commercial launch will follow, with embedded WiMAX devices expected to appear later in 2008, Polivka said.

Since the departure of former CEO Gary Forsee in October, Sprint Nextel has said it remains committed to WiMAX—but at the same time is re-evaluating the business. CFO and acting CEO Paul Saleh told investors at a conference last week that the company still expects to reap benefits from the launch. However, he said the carrier would revisit its WiMAX-related guidance for 2008 to make sure “that’s the right course for us.”

Saleh indicated Sprint Nextel is considering options including forming a separate WiMAX company or finding investors to fund the network deployment.

In a separate announcement, mobile WiMAX chipset provider Beceem Communications said that it had successfully completed initial interoperability testing between its chipset and Sprint Nextel’s WiMAX infrastructure as part of Sprint Nextel’s Xohm launch preparations.

Xohm is the brand given to Sprint Nextel’s WiMAX efforts.

Bin Shen, VP of broadband for Sprint Nextel, said that the carrier was “extremely pleased to see that Beceem has validated initial interoperability of most of the key features for Xohm’s 2008 launch” and called the development “a very encouraging sign for the launch of our Xohm Mobile Broadband network and service.”

December  9, 2007
Verizon Wireless Decides to Open Its Network to Other Equipment Providers
Verizon announced in early December that it will open its network to 3rd party equipment makers. Probably prompted by Google’s quest for the 700 Mhz spectrum, Verizon said it will start certifying equipment in late 2008. Google has used the fact that it plans to leave its network open if it in fact wins the bid for spectrum to shake its finger at the other locked providers, so Verizon may be trying to make that fact less of an issue.