FiberTower snares Sprint Nextel’s WiMAX backhaul

Details about Sprint-Nextel Corp.’s ongoing build out of its WiMAX network are continuing to come to light. FiberTower Corp. announced that it has inked a deal with the No. 3 carrier to provide backhaul services in seven of Sprint Nextel’s initial WiMAX launch markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed due to confidentiality agreements, according to FiberTower.
FiberTower did, however, disclose that Sprint Nextel’s network deployment will rely on an Ethernet-based backhaul, reportedly a first for any mobile backhaul provider.
“We are extremely pleased and excited to have been selected by Sprint Nextel to be the first backhaul provider to deploy commercial Ethernet services,” said Michael Gallagher, FiberTower’s president and CEO.
“We aim to maintain our position as the leader in broadband mobility and believe that our relationship with FiberTower will support that goal. FiberTower’s superior service quality, flexibility and scalability are a perfect fit for our next-generation network plans and we look forward to dramatically expanding this relationship going forward,” said Barry West, CTO and president of Sprint Nextel’s 4G Mobile Broadband division.
Sprint Nextel recently announced a tie-up with Clearwire Corp. to build out its WiMAX network. The carrier hopes to cover 100 million people by next year.