Clearwire Stabbed in Back? Sprint Does WiMAX Again

The industry’s been so focused on Clearwire Corp.’s at times quixotic-seeming quest to build out a nationwide mobile WiMAX network, that we forget there might be other players. Like Sprint-Nextel Corp., which said it would build its own 4G footprint in planned Clearwire markets, even though it remains a major Clearwire investor.

Sprint has one 4G market deployed already, in Baltimore, and said this week that it will expand the 12mbps (peak rate) WiMAX service to Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas; Honolulu; Las Vegas; Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle by the end of the year.

The thing is, the footprint seems to clash with Clearwire’s plans announced earlier this month, which involve expansion from its one market in Portland, Ore., to Las Vegas and Atlanta this summer, and Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Worth and Philadelphia, and Dallas/Ft. Worth later in the year. At the same time, Clearwire is planning to convert existing fixed wireless markets in Charlotte, Houston and Seattle to mobile WiMAX. In short, the Sprint and Clearwire would seem to have almost the exact same deployment plan.

Which would make sense if it's an MVNO deal. But there's no mention of resale in the materials.

If not an MVNO, has Sprint turned its back on Clearwire, deciding to launch its own network? After all, the No. 3 carrier spun off its expensive and distracting WiMAX business to Clearwire last fall, with the intention of acting as a strategic investor and technology partner, but leaving the build, branding and service delivery to Clearwire. The idea was to eventually act as the aforementioned 4G MVNO on Clearwire’s network once the markets were up and running. There was never any announced plan to continue to build a footprint itself.

The other possibility is that Sprint is taking over the branding and service delivery portion for Clearwire in hopes of sparking uptake with its brand awareness advantages, and that there will only be one network built jointly between the two, and one brand of service (Sprint 4G).

A request for clarification was sent to Sprint’s spokesperson by xchange, but it was not immediately answered.

Sprint is possibly feeling competitive pressure as momentum has gathered around LTE, with archrival Verizon Wireless planning 25 to 30 LTE markets by the end of 2010. Surely it wants to secure the all-important identity as a “4G leader” for its own brand.

To that end, the announcement made no mention of the “C”-word and focused instead on, you guessed it, “Sprint’s 4G leadership.” The carrier said that it will add to its existing dual-mode modem for laptops that lets users access EV-DO Rev. A 3G and WiMAX, with embedded laptops, a business WiMAX device, a single-mode data card and, most intriguingly, a “tri-mode phone.” WiMAX in a handset? Yes, please.

In the redundant network speculation column: Sprint did build out Baltimore before the spinoff, and has been operating service there ever since—but the Baltimore network and Clearwire’s in Portland are incompatible, meaning that right now users cannot roam between the two. Assuming each will preserve internal network homogeneity, that’s a situation that’s likely to be extended. So, no Sprint-Clearwire roaming?

xchange is awaiting clarification and will update this story.