Sprint Nextel Googles WiMAX partnership

Sprint Nextel Corp. unveiled a new WiMAX partnership this morning, announcing it is working with Internet giant Google Inc. on a new mobile portal for WiMAX mobile Internet customers.
This is the carrier’s second major WiMAX collaboration announcement in two weeks. Sprint Nextel said last week that it would work with Clearwire Corp. to rapidly build out a national mobile WiMAX network, and that the two companies will cooperate on branding, distribution and other aspects of establishing their WiMAX businesses.
The portal with Google will enable mobile search, interactive communications, multimedia services and social networking, according to Sprint Nextel. The carrier said it would provide application programming interfaces to its go-to-market partners and Internet developers to create customized products for devices with browsing capabilities, such as connection cards, stand-alone modems, laptops, personal media players, gaming devices and wireless phones. The carrier added that WiMAX service will eventually be available in vehicles for navigation, news and entertainment purposes.
Barry West, president of 4G mobile broadband for Sprint Nextel, said that the partnership “allows us to capitalize on the powerful mobility and Internet trends, and create wireless services and applications that take advantage of each company’s history of product development innovation.”