When wireless > DSL: Sprint, Motorola show off WiMAX on the Chicago River
On a muggy early-autumn evening, I set sail down the Chicago River with a group of Motorola and Sprint executives, marketing people, analysts, and journalists. Everyone was there to see one thing: Mobile WiMAX (802.16e) publicly demonstrated for the first time on Sprint's WiMAX spectrum, complete with hand-offs between towers.With all the discussion about the upcoming 700MHz broadband auction and its potential to provide a third broadband pipe in the US, it's possible to lose sight of Sprint and Clearwire's WiMAX service, which will offer broadband-class speeds using the 2.5GHz spectrum. Dubbed "Xohm," Sprint's $5 billion WiMAX venture will be launched in the spring of 2008 in Chicago, Washington, DC, and Baltimore, with a nationwide rollout to follow.
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