Several media outlets have reported that Sprint is imminently closing a
deal for Nokia to become its third choice for its WiMax network as a
network equipment provider. If this deal is announced, Sprint would
have the three largest handset manufacturers (Samsung and Motorola
being announced in the summer at a press conference in New York.)
on board, leading to cost and price control of the new devices. The
deal is expected to be announced next week. Others competing to supply
Sprint with WiMax equipment are Alcatel-Lucent of France, Nortel
Networks of Canada, and both ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co. of
China. Sprint is aiming to start WiMax service in test markets by the
end of 2007, with plans to cover 100 million people by 2008.
PhoneNews.com will cover this development as more information becomes
available.
Update: Sprint has now confirmed in a press release that Nokia has indeed been selected as the third partner in Sprint’s WiMax network providing both network equipment infrastructure and devices. Nokia joins Motorola, Intel, and Samsung in undertaking this project along with Sprint.
