Sprint today, after making several steps forward at CTIA in announcing their WiMAX network, took a step back.
The company this week announced the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition, and demonstrated live WiMAX in action. This was a key week for WiMAX, as while LTE has gained a greater number of company’s backing it, LTE has yet to be viewed publicly to work. WiMAX stands alone in the 4G sector in America today, with Clearwire’s Mobile WiMAX network (which will be a network partner to Sprint XOHM).
However, today, Sprint representatives confirmed that the planned launch of WiMAX service in Washington D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City has been delayed until later this year. Sprint said that the issues surrounding the delay did not involve the WiMAX platform itself, but declined to comment on the exact reasons beyond quality assurance.
It is also not clear if the XOHM launch cities will be expanded when the network publicly launches, or if the delayed launch will remain limited to four city-wide areas.
