By the time it was reported earlier this week that Sprint CEO Gary Forsee resigned from the company, the news - which had been rumored for some time - held as much shock value as a 2pm traffic jam on I495 . Forsee, who assumed the CEO mantle in 2003, engineered two mammoth corporate moves that will forever shape the company. In 2005 the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier executed a $35 billion merger with rival Nextel in a move designed to elevate its national footprint on par with that of Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Second, Forsee spearheaded Sprint’s $5 billion headfirst dive into WiMax – the technology aiming to be WiFi on steroids, minus the disgraced athletes and tarnished medals of course.
What Sprint hopes to deliver with its branded WiMax offering, Xohm (due out in Spring 2008) is in fact what consumers ultimately seek: a nationwide wireless network that will enable them to pass from hot spot to hot spot with zero interruption in calls, emails and multimedia content – at faster speeds, a lower cost and covering a broader area.
It is unclear how the departure of the chief architect of Sprint’s WiMax strategy will impact the longer term prospects for the technology. With the likes of Motorola, Intel, Nortel Networks and other marquee names behind WiMax it is unlikely to fade without a fight. The backers view any skepticism of the technology as less a case of its viability and more an issue of timing. When will WiMax be ready and will those ushering it forward have the patience to stick with it until that tipping point occurs?
Though Sprint has become the poster child for WiMax, the technology isn’t just about mobile phones. Other companies focused on leveraging WiMax for wireless broadband are seeing positive traction. For example, Ashburn, Va.-based DigitalBridge Communications provides broadband wireless to underserved communities via WiMax. While Sprint is attempting to weave together a nationwide WiMax network for mobile phones and other devices with its partner Clearwire, DigitalBridge is exclusively focused on delivering broadband access to residential and business users in towns with 10,000 to 75,000 residents that have few, if any, existing broadband options.
This approach holds the potential for low capital costs and high subscriber self-install rates, and this past June DigitalBridge Communications launched one of the first commercial WiMax systems in the United States in Rexburg, Idaho. While residents are certainly enjoying high-speed broadband, I can tell you two things they won’t be doing on the Web: making online campaign donations to Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and buying hard liquor. An October 2006 Salon.com article referred to Rexburg as the “reddest place in America” for its conservative leanings (93% of the County’s residents voted for George W. Bush or candidates running for small, conservative political parties in 2004). As for hard liquor, local establishments have been banned from serving it since 1947.
Despite the loss of Forsee, WiMax still has some strong winds gliding it forward. Whether or not the technology drops anchor for too long before eventually setting sail remains to be seen.
