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Sprint brands its WiMax—Xohm
By Larry Hendrick | August 17, 2007
WiMax … the ultimate solution for replacing the incumbent carrier over the last mile. That’s how some companies are positioning this product, including Sprint. This announcement yesterday about their new name for WiMax services got me thinking about the reality of last mile replacement and how WiMax will fulfill that destiny. (The included link goes to the press release, but the end of the release is the best part.) Here is the end of the release.
Business & Technology | Sprint brands its WiMax Xohm | Seattle Times Newspaper
“We want to make Xohm not only a household name, but an Internet destination, like the folks at Google,” West said.
Beyond the branding, Sprint made other announcements, including some milestones it wants to reach over the next few years:
• It expects to have WiMax service available to as many as 100 million people by the end of 2008 (Clearwire will be responsible for 30 million of them).
• WiMax is expected to contribute $2.5 billion in revenues in 2010.
• It expects to invest $2.5 billion into its WiMax network through the end of 2008. Beyond that, the company may extend coverage, depending on its success, to cover 125 million people by 2010. That would cost about $2.5 billion more.
Remember Sprint is the number three or four last mile provider in the United States (can never remember), so they are shooting across the bow of at&t and Verizon.
Then I found this on the Xohm website. Yes it’s boilerplate legalese, but in this instance, it applies. (bold mine)
Sprint’s Safe Harbor
This article includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this article regarding our collaboration with Google and the benefits of the arrangement; plans for the development and deployment of a broadband network based on WiMAX technology; the timing, availability, capabilities and coverage of the WiMAX network; products and services to be offered on the WiMAX network; and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are projections reflecting management’s judgment and assumptions based on currently available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements.
Readers of this site know I am a proponent of WiMax and the possibilities it presents. However, in the current proposals, it will never meet those expectations. Think of an onion, with many layers, each potentially hiding something. That reminds me of WiMax today. The deeper I dig, the more I don’t like. There are many discrepancies between what is being said, and what is being done.
Facts
- 802.16 and 802.16e don’t play nice together
- This means stationary and mobile aren’t compatible
- 802.16(e) runs on licensed frequencies, not open
- 802.11(a,b,g,n) runs on open frequencies
- Licensed frequencies are expensive because they are exclusive
- Exclusive means no sharing
- No sharing means no interoperability between networks
- No interoperability means no roaming across networks
Different Licensed Spectrum
This boils down to propriety systems that won’t talk to each other. If you buy a Sprint WiMax PC card for your laptop, it works great at your house, located in the Sprint Xohm area, but head over to a friend’s house, located in Billy Bob’s Internet WiMax area, and you’re out of luck.
I’m slightly uncomfortable with the way 802.16 is heading, which, rather than being a good replacement for the last mile, will eventually be a collection of competitors slowly absorbed into the RBOCs until we are, again, down to a few.
Topics: Business, Technology, WiFi |