Sprint this week Tweeted that their Mobile WiMax network will go live in Denver on December 18, but as with most Clear/Sprint launches, Sprint says you'll already find some live coverage there now. According to Sprint, they're now offering the speedier service in 68 markets, and plan to launch the service in the San Francisco Bay area on December 28. Sprint this week also indicated that they'll be offering a tablet that supports Mobile WiMax sometime in 2011. Sprint this week also announced a major network overhaul that will involve shutting down their iDEN network and streamlining infrastructure -- while paving a smooth migration path to LTE.
Easy now... We've got another decade before we see it. We'll see if our new Gov, who promised the love of technology, can actually get some in this state.
I'm pretty sure that one of these new tablets will be the PalmPad from HP/Palm. Sure you guys have seen the Playbook from RIM (which blatantly copies a ton of WebOS features). But this PalmPad should be announced at CES next month. Kinda hyped to be honest.
What aspect of the WiMax technology is holding back Clear/Sprint in signing up customers or delivering service? What problem does WiMax have that LTE magically avoids? Every one of these damn articles has a stab at WiMax for no apparent reason except it isn't the one chosen by incumbents. We get it. The "cool kids" didn't choose it so it should be shunned by the rest of us and we should snicker every time they make an announcement.
Handheld devices may be more constrained to one technology but laptops have expansion slots that let you add hardware as needed. You can switch from one to the other with only two screws between you and broadband bliss. USB dongles exist too. Using one service today in no way prevents you from using another in the future.
Easy answer: WiMAX coverage on Clear is horribly patchy in the three markets (San Antonio, Austin, Denver) I've been to where it's active. Probably a spectrm (2500MHz) issue.