August 11, 2008Sprint Network Finally Retaliates Against AT&T’s Prosaic Claims
AT&T’s (NYSE: T) Apple iPhone and Sprint’s (NYSE:S) Instinct touch phone is not the only rivalry brewing between these two foremost cellular networks.
AT&T has been bullying Sprint for a long time now, trying to prevent the Sprint and Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) union from merging both of their assets in order to create a nationwide broadband wireless network.
The only difference is that this time, Sprint is fighting back.
Sprint recently filed a response, declaring that “The New Clearwire transaction presents an unparalleled opportunity to accelerate broadband deployment in the United States,” Sprint declared.
Furthermore Sprint has addressed AT&T’s false claims against the WiMax wireless network. They stated that only three parties objected to the Sprint and Clearwire transaction or anticipated conditions. According to Sprint, “Their claims lack merit and provide no basis for denying, delaying, or imposing conditions on the approval of the New Clearwire license transfers,” Sprint stated.
This 59-page document is full of proofs against the erroneous claims being brought by AT&T, in essence Sprint has put on their gloves and is fighting back to preserve their right to launch their powerful broadband wireless network.
Hundreds of religious and educational institutions have rallied behind Sprint and Clearwire, now Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) are not alone. They all realize the importance of a WiMax wireless network and the great opportunities that could arise as a result. According so Scott Sloat, a Sprint representative, “The transaction poses no competitive concerns, and the public interest strongly weighs in favor of quick Commission approval.”
It is interesting to note that as of now AT&T is one of the largest telecommunications company in the world. Hopefully, the commission will reject their unadorned complaints and see them for what they are; an attempt to distort the public’s view of a powerful broadband wireless network for their own ruthless self-interests.
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAXJuly 29, 2008WiMax Empire Poses Continual Threat to AT&T Network
AT&T (NYSE: T) Phone Company is once again challenging the imminent merger of Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) with Clearwire (NYSE: CLWR), whose aim is to merge both companies’ WiMax assets in order to create a nationwide broadband wireless network.
This merger would be huge for Wimax, estimating a deal worth 14. 5 billion dollars, and is promising to be a huge success. Just ask Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), all companies who are currently backing this magnanimous merger.
This union would be a grave threat to AT&T’s future success and longevity as a company, and therefore they are claiming that Sprint and Clearwire are “failing to make the required showings necessary for the commission’s review.” They are hoping that this new claim against Wimax would prohibit the FCC from approving its launch.
AT&T clearly understands the importance of mass mergers, seeing as how the company exists today solely because of a mergence between their company and Bellsouth. This alliance has allowed AT&T to grow and reach profound heights in profit margins and overall global accessibility. The same could all too easily occur as a result of the coalition between Sprint and Clearwire, an outcome that obviously leaves AT&T worried.
And AT&T has more than one reason to be nervous about the Wimax wireless network. AT&T is currently working on their own 3G wireless technology, but it is still light years away from the technology currently being deployed by the Sprint and Clearwire union.
With advanced technologies and unparalleled support from large corporations such as Intel and Google, it is no surprise why AT&T is scared about its ineludible launch.
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX
July 11, 2008Clearwire’s WiMAX Tests: Acquirement of IDT’s Spectrum
The Sprint-Clearwire deal gave Clearwire (NYSE: CLWR) undeniable credibility in WiMAX development, and the company is moving forward with the technology in a big way. Beta tests are underway in Portland, with “more than 70 percent of [the] WiMAX sites for Portland…in construction or on air.” Completion is slated for the end of year, with commercial deployments in that city and 3 others in 2009.
But now they have more than just the hardware; as of July 2nd, Clearwire has leased 3 one-year licenses on the 39 GHz spectrum from IDT Spectrum, 2 of which are in the Oregon-Washington area. You may not have heard much about IDT Spectrum (NYSE: IDT) recently, but expect to hear the name much in the near future;
they own spectrums nationwide, mostly in the 28 and 38/39 GHz range. As we come upon the dawning age of wireless, the value of spectrum cannot be understated: you need spectrum to do anything wireless–especially for WiMAX, which is contentionless. (That means it can only operate on licensed spectrum because it is built to assume the air is clear. If it isn’t, the equipment just doesn’t work! Naturally, some companies are trying to develop equipment to change that, but for now, that is the nature of most WiMAX equipment.) Those who bought spectrum when a majority of it was auctioned off by the FCC in the 80s are finally seeing their investment bear fruit, whether they intend to lease or sell – remember the 700MHz auction earlier this year, which grossed a total of $19 billion?
So Clearwire has hardware, spectrum, and is well underway in deployment; what’s to follow? If all goes well, 2009 will see Las Vegas, Grand Rapids, Atlanta, and Portland commercial launches as the first four commercial markets for Clearwire’s WiMAX service, primed to follow at the heels of the Xohm launches in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington D.C. in the fall of this year. The start of the WiMAX nationwide buildout is only months away.
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...June 25, 2008Mobile WiMax is Being Buried Alive?
WiMax news has been dominated by a London research firm’s recent announcement that mobile WiMax might be dead on arrival.
“Recent events have been unfavourable toward Mobile WiMAX,” says Frost & Sullivan’s Programme Manager Luke Thomas, referring to Sprint’s delayed deployment of its commercial WiMax network. The firm then focuses on the two aspects of mobile WiMax:
“In terms of indoor wireless broadband, Wi-Fi fits well in this space and with the emergence of 802.11n, which includes MIMO, throughputs would be far better than what MobileWiMAX can deliver…With respect to outdoor mobile broadband environments, users would expect Mobile WiMAX to seamlessly hand off to cellular networks in the absence of WiMAX reception. In reality this is not possible as mobile WiMAX is not backward compatible with existing cellular technologies.” (Centre Daily)
By their diagnosis, the future of mobile WiMax seems bleak indeed. However, the image they portray may be oversimplified to WiMax’s disfavor. For instance, most next-generation broadband technologies will radically change modes of operation, making them incompatible with prior hardware. And before you ask, yes, in this club is the much-championed LTE. So in any discussion of new mobile technology, upgrading existing equipment is almost a given. It’s certainly much more of an industry-wide hurdle than, as Frost & Sullivan make it seem, an obstacle of WiMax exclusively. And already the industry is moving towards a solution, with talks of multimode.
As for the talk of the 802.11n standard of WiFi: last I heard, parts of the standard were still under patent in Australia, and requests for Letters of Assurance were ignored. That’s not a good portent for the standard’s likelihood of approval, as fast as it may be. I’d much rather look to WiMax, which is set to launch in its first large U.S. metropolitan area, Baltimore, in September.
Posted by Arizoldan in : Analyses and Speculations, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...June 17, 2008Amsterdam to Enjoy Mobile WiMAX
If Amsterdam is any indication, mobile WiMAX is already starting to overtake widespread WiFi in large metropolitan centers. Today Worldmax, a privately held Dutch firm, with Alcatel-Lucent, has activated a WiMAX network that covers the hub of the city, providing high-speed broadband to subscribers far beyond the limited berth of WiFi hotspots (Reuters).
This network, termed Aurea, is only a shadow of the scale of deployment the company wishes to have in place within the next few years–by the end of the summer, the entire city; by the a few years’ end, the entire country. The new network boasts activation within 2 working days, and a monthly subscription fee, entailing access to unlimited wireless data, of 20 euros a month. Currently, it needs a WiMAX PC card and USB adapter, but as soon as Intel (a large investor in Worldmax) produces its WiMAX-compatible notebook chips, users will have all the technology they need, right out of the box (Edubourse). Quite the efficient relationship!
Worldmax, Alcatel-Lucent, and Intel intends to showcase their new system with live feeds from taxis and cruise ships at the WiMAX Forum Global Congress, which, in fact, just started today. Whether their network lives up to expectation remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: Worldmax definitely knows how to kick off an event.
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wirelessJune 12, 2008Nortel Passes the Torch to Alvarion
The Canadian equipment manufacturer Nortel is passing on its WiMax operations to Alvarion in order to focus on LTE development, as reported on telecoms.com. Nortel claims the deal allows for both WiMax and LTE, which is projected to get to market faster than anticipated, to be developed on a timely schedule.
But there are other dynamics at play. The most immediate stimulus for the switch may be due to the Clearwire-Sprint deal still fresh in everyone’s minds; such a coalition in support of WiMax technologies has got AT&T and Verizon scrambling to polish the rival technology they’re backing, LTE. Once shipped, LTE hardware will be able to deliver floods of streaming media to mobile users, in as-of-yet unheard of quantities. Is it any surprise that Nortel is eying this development anxiously? In Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski’s own words, it’ll put “lots of pressure on the bandwidth of the networks” (TheStar.com). Thus they have prioritized, allowing Alvarion to handle WiMax while they lavish the LTE front with the attention it needs.
Smart move? It seems so. Nortel’s stock consequently jumped 13% following the announcement. But don’t interpret that as a clear indication of market confidence in LTE–the battle lines are still being drawn on the 4G frontier.
Posted by Arizoldan in : Analyses and Speculations, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wirelessMay 10, 2008“Wacky Wireless World”: Quantum CEO Ari Zoldan on Fox News
Michael Nelson, Stanford Group SVP, and Ari Zoldan, Quantum Networks Founder and CEO, discuss the WiMAX deal:
Clearwire-Sprint Deal: Why the Who’s Who are Investing in WiMAX
While the business world has been buzzing about the Microsoft-Yahoo talks, the big news for WiMAX fans is the Sprint and Clearwire deal. More details on the financial and commercial agreements are provided in this article.
Sprint and Intel both already had much invested in the success of WiMAX technology but the reasoning behind the cable companies and Google’s involvement is being questioned by some.
So why are these companies investing in WiMAX technology?
Comcast and Time Warner have been feeling the pressure from Verizon and AT&T who have been forcing their way into the television industry by providing video through your phone line. Verizon is attempting to lay fiber all the way to the home, or close to it. AT&T is laying fiber to the ‘node’ and relying on current wires to carry video signals to consumers’ homes. By helping the growth of WiMAX, Comcast and Time Warner would be funding an alternative wireless offering. Having a hand in mobile broadband technology could also help the cable companies compete in the ongoing battle for our living rooms. The triple play (phone, internet, and television) offering is no longer enough. CE, PC, console game, networking equipment, phone, and cable companies are trying to take over home media not only because of the huge potential to sell a complete ecosystem of products, services, and content but also for fear of being shut out.
Google is rumored to have been reluctant to enter the deal particularly because the WiMAX offered by Clearwire is currently just fixed wireless broadband. The company had to promise a future in building a mobile wireless solution for Time Warner, Comcast, and Google to put up the money. Obviously bringing broadband internet to mobile devices would mean more time spent on the internet and possibly more time spent on Google, Gmail, or YouTube. But mobile broadband also means more mobile devices which would, hopefully for Google, operate on the Android operating system that was launched by Google back in November 2007.
It will be interesting to see where this deal takes us.
Technorati Tags: Ari Zoldan, WiMAX, Clearwire, Sprint, Google, Time Warner, Comcast, Android, mobile wireless broadband, fixed wireless broadband
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...April 21, 2008Airspan Bounces Back
Airspan received some negative publicity back in March from Buzz Broadband but continues to be a respected provider of WiMAX solutions. Vodacom Lesotho, a subsidiary of the Pan-African cellular communications company, has officially selected Airspan to be its WiMAX provider.
Vodacom offers world class GSM service, a standard collection of applications and features available to mobile phone subscribers, to more than 23 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique. Partnering with Airspan will allow Vodacom to provide subscribers with IP data services as a substitute to fixed line broadband access. “Airspan will supply its MicroMAX base stations in the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz frequency band in addition to CPEs (customer premise equipment).” Vodacom believes that Airspan’s solution is perfect, particularly in rural areas, for rapid deployment.
Given the failure of Airspan’s partnership with Buzz Broadband (mentioned in past posts), Airspan hopes winning this contract with Vodacom will highlight the flexibility and scalability of Airspan’s base stations and CPEs.
Technorati Tags: WiMAX, MicroMAX, Airspan, Vodacom, Buzz Broadband, GSM Service, Ari Zoldan
Posted by Arizoldan in : Word on the Street Is...WiMAX Providing Universal Internet
City officials face obstacles while trying to provide municipal internet and are looking to WiMAX as the solution.
In order to serve poor neighborhoods and the community at large, hundreds of cities including Hartford, Philadelphia, Houston, and San Francisco have attempted to build a free or inexpensive Wi-Fi system.
While Wi-Fi has been working great in most downtown areas where antennas and computers are in close proximity but the Wi-Fi signal is not strong enough to cover a wide area or penetrate through brick apartment buildings. Wi-Fi systems have not been delivering on its promised performance. Hartford officials have been forced to put its municipal internet project on hold and hope WiMAX will serve as an alternative.
According to Jack McCoy, chief information officer for Manchester and a member of the newly created Connecticut Broadband Coordinating Council, “WiMAX could run a citywide network. The concern is it could run into opposition from cable companies and other providers.”
Technorati Tags: WiMAX, WiFi, Municipal Internet, Universal Internet, Ari Zoldan
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...
