Sprint stresses WiMAX' importance with Overdrive launch

MOST READ
LATEST NEWS

EVENTS

Join Orange, Amazon and Google at the Open Mobile Summit London May 29-30

MARKET PLACE

Carrier Broadband Performance: Africa & Middle East

Voice over LTE: Market Analysis and Forecasts

Advertize your telecoms job

JOBS

Experienced Event Organiser

Sprint stresses WiMAX' importance with Overdrive launch

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 7 January, 2010

READ MORE: US | Sprint Nextel | Sierra Wireless | WiMAX

Sprint Nextel duly held its pre-CES '4G event' in Las Vegas yesterday, introducing a 3G/4G wireless router called Overdrive, and stressing the importance of WiMAX, and the Clearwire joint venture, to its growth plans.

The Overdrive is one of a new breed of gadgets that allows a broadband connection to be shared between various devices, usually via Wi-Fi. The Novatel MiFi has been a popular example in 3G, but arch-rival Sierra Wireless has come up with the Overdrive for Sprint/Clearwire. It shares a WiMAX link between up to five Wi-Fi enabled products, or connects via EV-DO where the 4G network is not available.

This increases the value of a mobile broadband subscription, and doing this via WiMAX rather than 3G gives Sprint a clear competitive edge where that network is available, because the bandwidth and capacity will support more devices and a better experience. Such routers can be used as ad hoc hotspots for multiple users, or to connect a range of different gadgets such as netbooks, gaming consoles or cameras, as well as phones. Sprint said WiMAX was sufficient to support HD video or audio streaming simultaneously with web surfing and games playing.

The Overdrive will be sold at from January 10 in 10 markets, via Best Buy, whose CEO was also at the event. It will cost $100 after a $50 mail-in rebate, with two-year contract for Sprint's 3G/4G data service, whose prices start at about $60 a month. Sprint now offers the Clearwire service in 27 markets across the US.

As Clearwire itself has seen with its own router from Cradlepoint, such devices not only enhance the perceived value of a broadband subscription and encourage users to commit to contracts, but bring the huge base of Wi-Fi enabled devices into the WiMAX fold, so that customers do not have to wait until they have a WiMAX laptop or MID before they invest in a connection.

Meanwhile, CEO Dan Hesse said WiMAX would be "enormously important" for the company this year, telling an investor meeting that "2010 is the year of 4G for Sprint". This is because Sprint will be able to hold mobile broadband tariffs stable by offering more capacity and choices like the Overdrive, but its cost of delivery of broadband should be lower, the more traffic goes over WiMAX rather than 3G.

Sprint's other growth area has been the prepaid business, where the carrier recently acquired Virgin Mobile USA. Hesse said he expects prepaid to grow more quickly than contract services this year, and would try to avoid cannibalizing its postpaid business by offering the prepaid services through different brands and channels (such as Virgin and Boost).