BOSTON-There is nothing like a few billion dollars up for grabs to get a trade show buzzing as was the case for this year’s WiMAX World Conference & Exposition. Weeks after Sprint Nextel Corp. announced plans to deploy a nationwide WiMAX network using its substantial 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings-and the subsequent need for several billion dollars in new infrastructure-the wireless carrier was the main talk among the more than 5,000 attendees and 160 exhibitors that the conference attracted.
Sprint Nextel’s decision to use WiMAX technology added much-needed reassurance to the conference and drew a rash of product announcements from infrastructure providers big and small. Nearly every presentation included at least some reference to Sprint Nextel’s plans or at least used the carrier’s announcement to bolster claims about WiMAX’s world-changing capabilities.
For its part, Sprint Nextel played it cool. The carrier’s chief technology officer, Barry West, made a near- rock-star appearance during a pre-show Mobile Broadband Executive Summit hosted by the Yankee Group, which just so happened to have recently acquired show organizer Transmedia Inc. West played to a standing-room-only crowd who hung on his every word, which in the end lacked any new information about the carrier’s WiMAX plans.
In a follow-up meeting, Sprint Nextel’s Vice President of Technology Development Ali Tabassi noted that the carrier expected its WiMAX network to provide up to a 10 times cost advantage in delivering wireless data services compared to traditional cellular-based data services. Tabassi also downplayed any concerns about WiMAX’s scalability, noting a variation of the technology was proving successful in commercial deployments in South Korea, and the carrier’s initial technology partners, Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., showed successful trials in the laboratory, although that may not be the most demanding environment.
Tabassi also noted that Sprint Nextel was open to letting third-party Voice over Internet Service providers offer service over the carrier’s WiMAX network, but did not dismiss the potential for Sprint Nextel to offer its own VoIP service.
“We can deliver VoIP with quality of service,” Tabassi noted.
Looking back at its WiMAX decision, Tabassi noted that Sprint Nextel was very impressed by other technologies that the carrier had trialed, most notably IPWireless Inc.’s TD-CDMA solution, but that the bountiful ecosystem of technology providers in the WiMAX space proved too significant to overlook.
Sprint Nextel also reiterated plans to make additional infrastructure partner announcements in the near future, which heartened the dozens of companies scrapping for a piece of the money pie. Nokia Corp., which showed off a new “compact” WiMAX solution, said the Sprint Nextel decision has created a buzz in the industry, and that “everything is taking off.”
“Everyone was waiting for Sprint’s 4G announcement,” said Mark Slater, vice president of networks North America at Nokia. “Now we can see that the conversations now have sustenance to them.”
Nokia also said it was hedging its bet in the WiMAX space, noting that there were companies with significant 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum holdings in Canada and Mexico, and that it expects companies that have launched pre-WiMAX wireless broadband networks to look for upgrades in the 2008 timeframe.
While Sprint Nextel was clearly the belle of the ball, Craig McCaw’s Clearwire Corp. was not without its suitors. The company, which currently offers pre-WiMAX services in dozens of markets across the country, recently sold its NextNet Wireless Inc. infrastructure subsidiary to Motorola and will accelerate its network upgrade to the WiMAX standard.
While (in typical McCaw fashion) Clearwire has been somewhat tight-lipped about its commercial progress, Benjamin Wolff, the company’s co-chief executive officer, provided some insight during a keynote session.
Wolff noted that the carrier currently commands 162,000 customers and has plans to cover a total of 9 million potential customers with its services by the end of the year. Wolff said Clearwire recently launched its services in Honolulu, and that it plans to launch service in Seattle, Raleigh, N.C., and Chico, Calif., by end of year.
More notably, Wolff said Clearwire controls between 12 and 198 megahertz of spectrum in markets covering 210 million pops across the country, which seemed to only further whet the appetite of the salivating exhibitors. He also said Clearwire recently launched a mobile WiMAX trial in Oregon-news that could indicate a change in Clearwire’s strategy. The carrier currently offers fixed wireless Internet access-an alternative to DSL and cable connections-but mobile WiMAX technology could put Clearwire in direct competition with the nation’s cellular carriers.
Clearwire disclosed its mobile WiMAX plans in its initial public offering filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Clearwire subsequently pulled its IPO application after netting more than $1 billion in private funding. RCR
