Sprint Nextel (S) has further expanded its fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband network. The third largest US carrier has officially launched commercial services in Honolulu and Maui in Hawaii and in Seattle, Washington. Sprint offers its 4G service under the “Sprint 4G” brand and leverages the WiMax (a mobile broadband technology) network operated by Clearwire Corporation (CLWR) in which it holds a 51% stake.
Sprint recently announced its plan to invest an additional US$1.2 billion in Clearwire to facilitate the 4G service roll-out. Subscribers across the newly launched markets can now enjoy lightning fast mobile broadband experience by paying just $10 per month more over their existing 3G wireless data plans. This has been enabled by the nation’s first dual-mode (operates on 3G and 4G networks) mobile broadband modem which was launched by Sprint in December 2008.
The 4G WiMax network offers up to 10 times faster network speeds than the existing 3G deployments. The download speeds enabled by the 4G WiMax network average 3-6 megabits per second (Mbps) with peak speed exceeding 10 Mbps. Sprint became the first US wireless carrier to offer 4G mobile broadband services with the official commercial service launch in Baltimore in Oct 2008.
With the addition of the new markets in Hawaii and Seattle, the company’s 4G services now cover 27 markets in the US. Sprint plans to address more than 120 million people with its 4G network by the end of 2009. Moreover, the company will continue the aggressive network deployments through 2010 with 4G service launches in key US markets such as Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
The Sprint−Clearwire WiMax joint venture represents a response to the emerging 4G wireless broadband standard known as Long-Term Evolution (“LTE”). Sprint’s larger peers AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) are preparing to deploy their own 4G networks in the 2010-2011 timeframe based on LTE which has demonstrated higher throughput levels than WiMax in technical trials.
Nevertheless, 4G WiMax service is expected to play a critical role for Sprint’s survival in the US wireless market given its continued market share losses to larger rivals. Moreover, WiMax is expected to facilitate the deployment of broadband in rural US markets where the expansion of fiber-based networks may not be feasible.
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