With just a few months to go before the launch of its next-generation wireless network, Sprint Nextel Corp. has a distinctly modest lineup of compatible devices.
At the International Consumer Electronics Show here this week, Sprint showed only two computer modems that will definitely be available in April, when its WiMax network becomes available outside current trials in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington.
One of the promises of WiMax, a service Sprint will be providing under the Xohm brand, is that receivers for it can be built into a variety of devices like cameras and Web tablets that usually don’t have a built-in Internet connection or rely on Wi-Fi, a short-range technology.
“We fully expect an explosion of consumer devices,” said Antone Porter, a product manager at Sprint.
The relative dearth of early WiMax gadgets isn’t necessarily a sign of trouble for Sprint. Gemma Tedesco, an analyst at In-Stat, said the coverage area will be relatively small this year anyway, and Sprint’s main task will be to build out the network.
“Unlike Wi-Fi, users’ satisfaction will be dependent on the network coverage, and so Sprint really needs to have their metro areas well covered, to get users motivated; even this may take time, going into 2009 and beyond,” she said.
Unlike Wi-Fi, WiMax signals reach for miles, and unlike cellular broadband, it’s designed from the ground up for data. That could make WiMax cheaper than current cellular broadband, or 3G, which often costs around $60 a month for laptops.
Sprint hasn’t disclosed pricing plans, but Atish Gude, senior vice president of mobile broadband operations at the company, said he suspects “it will be more affordable than 3G.”
At launch, the two devices that will be able to connect to the network are a modem for homes or small-offices from ZyXEL Communications Corp. and a laptop modem from ZTE Corp.
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