Sprint Nextel To Trial WiBro

Thu, Sep 15th 2005 2:17pm — Carlo Longino

When it comes to wireless broadband, Sprint Nextel is nothing if not thorough. It's going to trial WiBro with equipment from Samsung, adding the Korean standard to the list of technologies it's tried. Pre-merger, Sprint was testing WiMAX (the mobile version of which WiBro is supposed to be merged into) and is rolling out EV-DO, while Nextel was evaluating UMTS-TDD, and had already tried Flash-OFDM. One of the biggest benefits of the Sprint Nextel hookup was all the 2.5 Ghz spectrum the companies own, and it's obvious they plan to use it. It still remains to be seen, though, just what technology they'll ultimately choose. Derek adds: Making S/N even more thorough, there were rumors a month ago that the merged company was being wooed by Craig McCaw (who has a long-standing relationship with Nextel) to try out his Clearwire pre-WiMAX solution. You know what they say, try before you buy...but Sprint/Nextel, please...maximum five garments at-a-time in the dressing room!

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Alaric, 15 Sep 2005 @ 2:17pm

More than Thorough
Sprint/nextel are doing due diligence but there is more to it than that. S-N are going to play their many suitors (IP wireless, Qualcomm (flash-ofdm), Intel/motorola, Samsung) against one another to get both the technology and deal S-N want. Flarion has a strong leg up in tech but Sprint probably wants a real standard for all the obvious reasons (less vendor control, lower costs, etc.). My money is still on Qualcomm-flarion. They have something that works and works well. The rest of the pack is years behind.
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