Even before the partnership could bear fruits, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire have mutually agreed to terminate their agreement to build a nationwide WiMax network. This is definitely a bad news, not only for Clearwire, but also for the entire industry.
One of the reasons for this could be the pressure from the Wall Street to scale down the WiMax plans. Last month Sprint CEO Gary Forsee resigned under pressure from the investors. Sprint has already lost 37 percent of its value since August 2005 and investors feel the current plant of WiMax deployment will not help the company's cause either.
Even though Sprint Nextel reinstated its commitment to deploying the WiMax services, it would not be an easy task to deploy a WiMax network all alone. Intel, Nokia, Samsung and other equipment manufacturers would obviously feel the heat. Let us look at some of the implications of this incidence:
1. This early jolt would seriously undermine the confidence in the viability of the WiMax network.
2. The investor shouts to stop the wimax plan would get louder and may result in Sprint Nextel abandoning the WiMax plan.
Elsewhere, Sprint Nextel is getting more comfortable with Google . There are even rumors of Google acquiring Sprint Nextel. Google has made its intention of getting into voice amply clear. If WiMax has to see the light of the day, we need the deep pockets of Google. For Google, Sprint Nextel could be the vehicle to enter the voice domain and challenge the hegemony of AT&T and the likes.
The next few months would be very crucial for the WiMax future. If Google gets serious about the whole thing, it would mean a brighter future for WiMax; else it may be one more excellent technology going down the drains.
No one really know how this could possibly effect VOIP Over Wimax.
This article has been written by our VoIP news editor Alok Saboo. Alok is pursuing his PhD in Marketing at the Pennsylvania State University.
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