Sprint, Clearwire Go Separate Ways; WiMAX Deployment May Be Delayed

Last week, Sprint and Clearwire, two companies in the US that have, amid widespread skepticism, managed for a long while to remain steadfast and continue their drive for widespread deployment of WiMAX services in America, declared their separation.

According to a Reuters report on the matter, Sprint “ended its WiMAX partnership with Clearwire and was reviewing its plans for the next-generation wireless technology.”

Why do we bring this bit of news to your attention? Well, we do so because WiMAX, thought in and of itself a hardware-based invention, carries with it very powerful technological implications for the US populace – the primary one being its ability to deliver remarkably faster long-reaching wireless broadband to the masses, thus expanding the possibilities of Web development in the states greatly. We sure like that. So, naturally, we don’t like this latest bit of news. And we’re sure you don’t, either.

Okay, before we start banging heads against walls, it should be said that Sprint is unlikely to abandon its American WiMAX efforts entirely, and will presumably find another party to work with on the $5bn-plus project. But it’s also worth noting that the actual deployment of the technology will undoubtedly be set back a good while, considering the fact that this severance comes at the same time Sprint itself to be less-than-superbly healthy. What with its steady loss of customers, as well as its need to replace former CEO Gary Forsee, who resigned from his role at the company in October.

Further delay of the WiMAX effort (it’s been said to be on a path for limited delivery by mid- to late-2008) certainly won’t be taken in kind by Sprint’s myriad of hardware partners, which include Nokia and Motorola, among others. All require months, perhaps even years to prepare well for future releases, and if critical pieces to the puzzle disappear, as Clearwire has, scheduling conflicts can - and often do - arise. So this revelation won’t be seen as a mere pinprick on the business-to-business end of things.

Nor will the American public greet this as a minor concern. For years, consumers in the US privy to Sprint’s WiMAX plans have been quite enthralled with the concept of high-speed wireless broadband service – high speed in the way that current cellular technologies simply do not deliver. Indeed, a great many rural regions in America have looked at WiMAX as a very practical answer to their demand for services only urban and suburban areas have for years been fortunate to experience. They’ve stood among the technology’s most vociferous proponents.

So what can one make of the future of Sprint WiMAX? Well, as far as “informed” postulations go, it’s coming, but it’s probably going to arrive later than expected. Which is to say, not nearly soon enough.

In all, how Sprint fares in terms of its internal troubles as well as its ability to stave its loss of subscribers will subsequently prove how quickly Sprint can resume the establishment of a WiMAX network.

One should think the company downright lucky if it is to proceed with plans to flip the switch according to the existing schedule.