“The two biggest technology trends that have affected people’s lives are cellular mobility and the Internet,” Atish Gude, senior VP of mobile broadband at Sprint said in the Kansas City Star. “We’re tying those two trends together. We’re really not creating a new trend. We are creating the next incarnation of the Internet. The next incarnation is to take the Internet with you.”
Sprint, with whom four major cablecos have a joint venture, will be the first to begin rolling out a WiMAX network nationally – what Sprint calls 4G. At CES Gude said the company plans to launch its first WiMAX service in Chicago and Washington in early 2008. Sprint expects that by the end of 2008, the service will be available to some 100 million US consumers, about one-third of the US population.
Users can expect speeds of around 2 Mbps to 4 Mbps (that’s faster than many DSL users get) for about $55 a month, said Gude – about $40 of that for broadband and $15 for mobile service.
Gude said the service would be more like a consumer’s broadband service at home than a mobile phone service. For example, Sprint would not limit content options, Gude said. And, consumers would be able to connect various devices such as gaming consoles, digital cameras and portable media players – not just laptop PCs and mobile phones.
Most mobile phone services wall off the content that their subscribers can access, limiting it to what the carrier offers. Sprint wants to offer what Gude called an “open model” that would allow customers to access any Web site.
Subscribers will be able to connect several devices to Sprint’s WiMAX network, much as they can with broadband at home. However, the monthly cost would increase as devices are added.
Sprint expects to spend $3 billion over the next two years to build the WiMAX network. It’ll use existing cell-phone towers and radio spectrum that Sprint already owns.
Gude anticipates there’ll be three service platforms including one with “unlimited access.” He also said the company does not anticipate offering VoIP, but did not say that Sprint would prevent it. He did say he does not expect Sprint’s wireless broadband to be totally open on day one to all content, all services and all devices. “Do you start with an open model, or start with a closed model and move to an open model?” he asked. Sprint’s WiMAX service will be aimed at the mobile market, Gude said, not the home broadband market.
Intel, Motorola and Samsung will make WiMAX chips. LG, Motorola, Nokia and Samsung will make gear and devices for Sprint’s WiMAX network.
Last year, Gude told BusinessWeek, “Our vision is about creating an Internet everywhere experience. It will be a life-changing event for the customer to have control and connectivity.”
This week, Sprint said that Gude will become senior VP of mobile broadband operations in its 4G mobile broadband business.