“WIMAX: Chicago is test market”

Sprint's WiMax gamble: A new wireless broadband on the way

A wireless technology that could change the way people use the Internet on the go and spawn a new generation of mobile gadgets is months away from a large-scale debut here.

The rollout is at the forefront of Sprint Nextel Corp.'s $3 billion bet on WiMax, a technology often called "Wi-Fi on steroids."

Long touted as the future of wireless Web access but experienced so far by few consumers, WiMax offers speeds similar to those of cable modems or digital subscriber lines, DSL, with range much greater than Wi-Fi.

The mobile version of WiMax embraced by Sprint would let users enjoy that speed even while in a moving car.

Sprint's nationwide plan adds a new and potentially disruptive player to the field of wide-range wireless Internet services. Those include third generation, or 3G, cellular access from wireless carriers and planned city networks that use the Wi-Fi technology found in many homes and shops.

WiMax is a gamble for Sprint, the No. 3 carrier that lately has lost cell phone customers to rivals Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., because building a business around the technology is unproven on such a large scale.

"We are out there on our own, and a lot of people are waiting to see what happens," Barry West, Sprint's chief technology officer, said in an interview.

"It's just a killer business model. No one can see it because no one has one," West said at a recent industry event in Chicago. "We see it as a growth engine for our company for years to come."

Sprint plans WiMax test launches in December in Chicago, Washington and Baltimore, followed by commercial availability in those markets in April. The company intends to offer WiMax coverage reaching 100 million people by the end of 2008 in cities including Austin, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia and Seattle.

West said download speeds would be 3 to 4 megabits per second and uploads about half that. Subscription prices for the WiMax service have not been announced, but West said they would be competitive with cable and DSL.

"It's a risk for Sprint," said Charles Golvin, a research analyst. He said the company is departing from established cellular business models, trying to "think differently and offer a different range of services."

Golvin said wireless industry investments in data and media offerings have not paid off well so far, but the enthusiasm for Apple's iPhone shows an appetite among consumers for a better mobile Internet experience.

"What Sprint is embracing and going after is the idea of the 'real Internet' on mobile devices on the go," he said. "They are investing significantly because they are counting on a nontrivial payoff."

Consumers will initially need special laptop cards to access the new service, but many computers and gadgets are expected to have embedded WiMax technology by the time Sprint's networks are widely available.

"2008 is really being billed as the WiMax year," said Julie Coppernoll, director of WiMax marketing for Intel Corp., a leading backer of the technology.

She said laptops with WiMax receivers will come first, followed by an emerging category of "mobile Internet devices" that offer the features of homebound Web access on the go.

She said WiMax also opens the door for a variety of gadgets that have never been connected to the Internet or each other.

West and others cited the example of digital cameras with built-in WiMax that can immediately transmit new photos to Web sites or a backup location.

Around the world, flavors of WiMax deliver Internet access to rural or developing areas where it is too expensive or difficult to build wired networks.

In the U.S., customers of Clearwire Corp. in 13 states experience a fixed version of WiMax that brings wireless Internet service at DSL speeds. Clearwire also is developing its own mobile WiMax effort.

Although the U.S. tends to lag behind Asia and Europe in wireless technology, Sprint's plan to create the largest mobile WiMax network is drawing worldwide attention.

In Chicago, Sprint partner Motorola Inc. plans to install WiMax equipment on Sprint's existing cellular broadcast sites, giving each a special antenna and a large electronics cabinet, said Fred Wright, manager of the equipment maker's networks and products business.

By year's end, 150 such sites should broadcast WiMax signals covering downtown Chicago and some suburban areas. Later, about 1,000 sites would cover millions of residents in a broad area across and around the city.

Sprint's deployment is getting under way even as Chicago is considering which company might build a municipal Wi-Fi network to blanket its 160 square miles and offer inexpensive or free access. Potential builders of this vast network include AT&T and Atlanta-based EarthLink.

"If you really want to know how this all comes down in the next few years in terms of Wi-Fi and WiMax, Chicago is the city to watch," said Greg Richardson, founder of Civitium LLC, an Atlanta-area firm that consults with cities, including Chicago, on municipal Wi-Fi projects.

Municipal Wi-Fi supporters say that city plans are far from obsolete but that Sprint's effort could complicate matters.

West said his company is in discussions with "a lot of municipalities about municipal WiMax, where we'll build it either for them or with them." He said the technology allows for different levels of service, and a city could become an "anchor tenant" on a network, offering slower speeds and lower prices than Sprint premium access.

WiMax and Wi-Fi advocates describe them as complementary, but they also point out pros and cons.

Wi-Fi has a range of only a few hundred feet, requiring thousands of transmitters to blanket a city, and WiMax transmitters have ranges measured in miles. Wi-Fi also uses unlicensed radio airwaves, which have more potential for interference than the licensed spectrum Sprint owns.

But unlicensed airwaves allow for more Wi-Fi providers, and upcoming Wi-Fi improvements promise greater speeds. Wi-Fi technology also is more established with ubiquitous, cheaper receivers and transmitters, and WiMax is just getting started.

WiMax will also compete with the 3G services offered by Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, which faces the challenge of selling both 3G and WiMax.

The 3G networks use technologies intended to carry voice calls that have been adapted for data services such as sending videos or surfing the Web, Golvin said.

In contrast, he said, WiMax was designed to "handle the Internet from the ground up."

Check Broadband-T1 Pricing Now >