While Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Chicago are currently basking in WiMAX service, the rest of the country will have to wait even longer due to a delay by Sprint. Don’t jump the gun, folks. Sprint just wants there to be more WiMAX enabled devices to accompany the rollout.
Sprint Nextel spokesman Jeff Chaltas anticipates
“several more mobile WiMAX devices will be available at commercial launch, making for a better experience and a wider range of devices for our XOHM customers.”
The snafu in Australia also has nothing to do with the delay here in the States, says Chaltas. The technologies and how they are implemented are comparable to apples and oranges.
Chaltas says the following is the main reason for the delay,
the hiatus is primarily to improve the backhaul side of the network. The upgrade will enable Sprint to more efficiently handle the huge amount of data traffic it expects when the wireless broadband service launches, he said.
“You need a lot of backhaul capacity to do what’s required for WiMAX,” Chaltas explained in a telephone interview. Backhauling refers to transporting traffic from central points to clients.