Sprint has announced their 4G WiMAX plans which mirror Clearwire. They will launch in major cities this year and more markets in 2010. New devices such as tri-mode modems are planned. Sprint owns 51% of Clearwire and acts as a reseller of Clearwire WiMAX.
They claim, Sprint 4G offers
turbo-charged mobile broadband - peak downlink speeds of up to 12 Mbps
in Baltimore today and average downlink speeds of 2-4 Mbps - three to
five times faster than today's 3G service from any carrier.
Sprint plans to deploy Sprint 4G service in many markets in 2009,
including Atlanta, Honolulu, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Portland, Fort Worth and Seattle.
Sprint also expects to launch service in multiple markets in 2010
including Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Sprint has several new 4G devices planned for 2009 and 2010,
including a single-mode 4G data card, embedded laptops, a
small-office-home-office broadband modem and a tri-mode phone. Sprint
was the first wireless carrier to offer access to both 3G and 4G
networks on one device - the 3G/4G USB Modem U300.
Sprint made history by launching 4G in Baltimore in September 2008, then
by launching the first dual-mode 3G/4G device in December. The current
availability of Sprint 4G in Baltimore and the roll-out of 4G in major
markets in 2009 and 2010 delivers on Sprint's promise to offer a faster
Internet experience in cities across the nation than any other wireless
service from a national carrier.
"Sprint continues to lead the wireless industry by harnessing the power
of WiMAX" said Todd Rowley, vice president of Sprint 4G. "The
availability of Sprint 4G in more places this year and our aggressive
expansion of Sprint 4G service demonstrates our commitment to provide 4G
capabilities and devices nationwide for our business, consumer and
government customers. These capabilities enable significantly enhanced
performance and productivity for our customers."