The Wall Street Journal has a report that Sprint and Clearwire, who previously were chatting about going in together on a nationwide WiMax network, have started talking again, this time looking to outside investors such as Google, Intel, and Best Buy to help fund the high-speed network. Sprint’s WiMax network, dubbed ‘Xohm’, is set to be launched sometime this year.
Clearwire has been operating in various areas of the U.S for several years now, and they do a tremendous job of taking over markets. I was in college in Abilene, TX, a small town in West Texas of roughly 115,000, when Clearwire came in, and there were billboards everywhere, three retail locations, and 2 mall kiosks in a matter of weeks. The network itself is awesome. You have a modem that you simply plug into a power outlet to get the wireless signal. My roommates and I switched from cable internet to Clearwire for roughly the same monthly cost and didn’t notice a difference in speeds at all.
Clearwire currently covers 44 markets in 16 States. I’m anxious to see Sprint and Clearwire work together to spread across the entire US soon. Time will tell if they’re able to work together and get some investors in to help them out.
(Image courtesy of Intomobile.com)