Another industry first comes out of Overland park Kansas; where Sprint has announced that it will offer wholesale 4G sales. What does this mean exactly? Well it just means that it will allow other ISP or cable companies to use their system to offer 4G services. they will be providing the HTC Detail 3G/4G handset (same features as the HTC Evo Shift 4G) and the Sierra Wireless 250U 3G/4G data card.

In their press release Sprint goes on to say:

“Customers looking for a large and established 4G ecosystem should consider Sprint, as we offer access to more than 120 ecosystem partners, including chipset vendors, device and equipment manufacturers, applications developers, machine-to-machine solutions providers and more,” said Matt Carter, president Sprint Wholesale Solutions and New Ventures. “With Sprint 4G, the possibilities for our customers are endless. 4G is another fine example of the complete solutions we offer to help our customers harness their full potential.”

As other businesses try to compete in the wireless 4G markets (think Comcast, Cox, Time Warner Cable) they are met with challenges of how to provide service. This is one way that Sprint can stay ahead of the game (and ahead of Verizon, and AT&T) to give themselves a nice boost in revenue.

To me this is just one way that Sprint can help Clearwire in their LTE-Advanced roll out. Remember that Sprint 4G service is really just Clearwire’s WiMax…With that said I can see that companies that want to get an edge up on competition and offer 4G wireless Internet everywhere possible – can now look at Sprint for a helping hand. This should help the revenue of both Sprint and Clearwire, and possible help Clearwire expand their LTE-Advanced fantasy sooner…

What are your thoughts on this PPCGeeks? Is Sprint making the right move here? Do you see it helping out the masses? Just what does this mean for Sprint in the long run? Tell me the answers and give my your insight to what you think might happen with Sprint offering wholesale 4G service.

Source: Sprint

Special thanks goes to darren.wlsn1 for giving us the tip on this article. thanks!

Well what a shocker we have here today! We all knew that Clearwire has been struggling to keep WiMax working properly; and we also knew that they were testing LTE technology at one point in Arizona. But what we did not expect to see was this! Clearwire says that this fall they are going to be releasing LTE-Advanced!

Dan Hesse did say we would have something “spectacular” coming this fall. This could be it. Clearwire is going to stop building out WiMax and start switching to LTE- Advanced. LTE-Advanced is the next step up from LTE, and could deliver download speeds of 120Mbps! Now don’t worry Evo, Epic, Evo 3D lovers – Clearwire will be keeping WiMax around – but will soon be switching it out it sounds like. They are going to start in areas that are already deployed with WiMax but has high demand of 4G. 

Dr. John Saw, Clearwire’s Cheif Technolog Officer, confesses:

“This is the future of mobile broadband. Our extensive trial has clearly shown that our ‘LTE Advanced-ready’ network design, which leverages our deep spectrum with wide channels, can achieve far greater speeds and capacity than any other network that exists today. Clearwire is the only carrier with the unencumbered spectrum portfolio required to achieve this level of speed and capacity in the United States. In addition, the 2.5GHz spectrum band in which we operate is widely allocated worldwide for 4G deployments, enabling a potentially robust, cost effective and global ecosystem that could serve billions of devices. And, since we currently support millions of customers in the 2.5 GHz band, we know that our LTE network won’t present harmful interference issues with GPS or other sensitive spectrum bands.”

This is no doubt why we have not seen any WiMax roll outs planned for Clearwire this year (2011). They did go on to say that they have to wait for additional funding to make their LTE-Advanced fantacy come true. Then they stated that they will be using multicarrier, or multichannel, wideband radios that will be carrier aggregation capable. This sounds like they are going to market to the masses of carriers – not just Sprint.

Now you might be saying “Jason – Sprint just signed a partnership deal with Lightsquared – how is this love triangle going to work?” Well all I have to say is it will be tricky but I bet we see that this love triangle will fester and bloom into a oozing pot of LTE goodness for all of us. Remember that Lightsquared is still face with issues regarding GPS – so this gives Sprint that one way out.

You tell me PPCGeeks, what do you think of this news? Does this spell “Love” for Sprint, or does it put a nail in their casket? Tell me below!

Source: Engadget

This is a move that I think we all saw coming eventually. Sprint has reduced it’s stake in clear wire from 50% to 49.8%. A move that makes Sprint less likely to be held accountable if Clearwire defaults. Most importantly though is that Sprint maintains 54% of the economic stake in Clearwire. See what was happening was investors were worried that if Clearwire was to default (go under) that Sprint would end up having to pay that money back.

With them removing themselves as a power player in voting they can now say – “Hey we had nothing to do with them going under”… By Sprint also doing this action Sprint is proactively providing protection and flexibility with respects to its debt agreement and eliminating ongoing investor concerns about any potential cross-default risk.

This action only affects Sprint’s voting interest as a shareholder of Clearwire and does not affect Sprint’s other governance rights, nor does it reduce Sprint’s economic interest in Clearwire, which remains the same.

So PPCGeeks, that should not come as a shock to you. Sprint has been in talks of making LTE based moves – could this be the first sign? Tell us your thoughts and opinions about this move. Do you think it has any merit as to what Sprint will do with WiMax or LTE? Tell us below….

Source: fiercewireless

It remains a very distinct possibility that Sprint will make the jump to LTE. Sprint issued an RFP exploring the migration to LTE, then announced a multi-billion dollar network overhaul that could easily pave the way for such transition. We’ve also heard it from more than one employee over the last six months that Sprint absolutely will be building an LTE Network despite executive protestations. No this should come to no surprise as we here at PPCGeeks reported the network overhaul and the fact that Clearwire has been doing LTE testing and has shown speeds of 90 mb/s burst. Of course this news was before the leaked news that Clearwire will be going wholesale, though Clearwire too has made hints they could shift to LTE – for survival reasons. Whatever the outcome, Sprint may say they’ll be making their intention clean sometime over the next 4 to 6 month time frame.

“Our 4G strategy is WiMAX, full stop!” – Dan Hesse, November 2010.

Over the next 4 to 6 months Spring Nextel (NYSE:S) will study and evaluate the rate which its customers migrate from the EV-DO to mobile WiMAX and calculate the best way to use its existing spectrum before it decides whether or not to deploy LTE. Sprint currently runs an EV-DO network in the 1900 MHz PCS band, and has a wholesale deal with Clearwire to use WiMAX in the 2.5 GHz band. Sprint also runs the iDEN network in the 800 MHz range, and we all know Sprint has said that it will begin to phase out the iDEN network in 2013.

It’s interesting that we went from Dan Hesse insistent that WiMAX was absolutely Sprint’s path in November, to a Sprint executive telling us they’re seriously considering the LTE shift just three months later.

Hmmmm could Verizon/AT&T LTE/voLTE be scarring big yellow into rethinking it’s plan? Tell us in the comments below Geeks, what is it that is making Sprint look into LTE, and what do you think it means for us SPrint users that have EVo, Epics and Evo Shifts? What is the future of Sprint? Let your comments be heard.

Source: DSLreports.com

Clearwire, Sprint and Time Warner Cable announced today that they will be launching their 4G service in New York City on November 1, 2010. Isn’t this just what some of us wanted to hear? Also, in separate announcements, Clearwire and Sprint then spoke of the upcoming launch of 4G service in the San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles areas. According to Clearwire, by the end of 2010 the 4G network is also expected to be available in other major metropolitan areas such as Denver, Miami, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

Clearwire will partner with Sprint and Time Warner for the New York launch, with Comcast and Sprint in San Francisco, and with Sprint in Los Angeles according to PCMag.

Once available, customers in these areas will be able to increase their mobility and productivity in several ways including instantly downloading large files to get work done on the run, browsing the web hastily from any location or watching online videos and movies nearly anywhere around town. Consumers will also be able to purchase a wide range of 4G devices including: compact USB modems, WiMAX laptops and netbooks and other wireless devices, all aimed at making lives in 4G cities more efficient.

Found on Clearwires website they do offer several plans ranging from $25 to $110 per month, depending on the services you select. Keep in mind that with the 4G package you will get unlimited usage in 4G coverage areas, download speeds up to 6.0 Mbps as well as upload speeds up to 1.0 Mbps. Are you one of their consumers who have been patiently waiting for this launch? The time is near and you can soon enjoy mobile browsing at faster speeds and much more.

Source: PCMag,WSJ and Clearwire

Thanks to member BooDaddy here at PPCG for pointing out this news to our site.

According to sources at CNet, Clearwire said today that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and two other top Sprint executives, Keith Cowan and Steven Elfman, have resigned from Clearwire’s board of directors and will soon be naming temporary members to the board.  There are four other Clearwire board members Sprint previously appointed who’s positions will remain unchanged.

The Sprint executives’ departure is raising speculations about Clearwires future. The public now wonders whether Sprint will end up buying Clearwire outright or will Clearwire and T-Mobile strike a deal. Whatever happens, this move could possibly open the gates allowing other investors to take advantage of Clearwire and the new 4G network.

Source: CNet

The Wall Street Journal posted an article yesterday saying that Sprint is considering letting T-Mobile USA invest in Clearwire, Sprint’s 4G WiMAX partner. Sprint currently owns 54% of Clearwire. Everyone knows Clearwire is in desperate need of cash to continue building out its network, and allowing T-Mobile USA to invest would give them some of that needed money.

Some of the members of Sprint’s Board of Directors are opposed to the idea:
“Some Sprint directors are fighting hard against a T-Mobile USA investment in Clearwire, one person familiar with the matter said. Giving T-Mobile a big Clearwire stake means “making a competitor stronger in an area of competitive advantage” for Sprint, this person said. Directors “are still struggling” with choosing their Clearwire investment strategy and haven’t set a deadline for a decision, another person familiar with the matter said. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has yet to endorse a particular approach, people familiar with the matter said.”

Which side are you on? Do you think this would be a good or bad idea?

Source: WSJ via DSLReports

Today at the CTIA Wireless Conference, Clearwire updated their list of cities that they hope to deploy their 4G network in for 2010. Besides the already announced markets of New York City, Houston, Boston, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis and the San Francisco Bay Area, they have added Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City as places they plan on launching their Clear Wi-Max wireless network. They hope to have the network up and running in those locations by the end of this year. If you live in one of those launch markets, are you excited? Will you be signing up for the service or will you make due with what you have for now?

Source- DSLReports.com

T-Mobile and Clearwire sitting in a tree:
S-P-E-C-T-R-U-M-I-N-G
First comes 3G,
then comes 4G,
then comes the Spectrum sharing!

While this may appear ludicrous at first sight (Sprint owns majority of Clearwire, T-Mobile is looking at LTE for 4G while Clearwire builds it’s competing Wi-Max 4G network), it may be possible. The CEO of T-Mobile USA, Robert Dotson, while speaking at an investor conference in Frankfurt, had this to say-

“We continue to look at joint venture opportunities for additional spectrum… there are a number of different options we look at, (and) have been talking with cable companies, with Clearwire.”

If this hold true, T-Mobile could provide funding for Clearwire’s network build out in exchange for access to the highly valuable wireless spectrum that is needed to support T-Mobile’s LTE network.
Source- DSLReports.com

Source: InformationWeek via WMPowerUser

“We have already made a significant financial investment, and at this point we think the best way we can continue to add value is through continued product and strategic cooperation,” Google spokesman Andrew Pederson said in an email.

As of this posting, both Clearwire and Google stocks were up for the day.

Source: Reuters

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