Nokia gets a slice of Sprint Nextel WiMAX pact — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Three largest handset companies involved} Nokia gets a slice of Sprint Nextel WiMAX pact

6 Jan 2007 at 17:53 GMT Timo Poropudas

Sprint Nextel, the third largest mobile operator in the US, confirmed Friday what had been reported in media earlier: Nokia has been named a key infrastructure and consumer electronic device provider for its 4G WiMAX next generation mobility network.

Nokia joins Intel, Samsung and Motorola in creating the advanced network infrastructure and access devices which will be designed to allow consumers, businesses and governments to experience high bandwidth mobile Internet connectivity at access speeds significantly higher than today’s wireless networks beginning late 2007.

Sprint Nextel last August announced the selection of WiMAX (IEEE802.16e-2005) technology for a next generation wireless network which would utilize the company’s extensive 2.5GHz spectrum assets, and formation of a unique business ecosystem designed to spur widespread adoption of WiMAX devices and services.

Sprint says in its press release that this combination creates a time-to-market advantage for implementing the first large scale mobile WiMAX network expected to cover at least 100 million people by year-end 2008.

“Sprint Nextel is forming a world class ecosystem around mobile WiMAX technology to deliver unprecedented mobile broadband services to customers,” said Barry West, Sprint Nextel president, 4G Mobile Broadband. “A company of Nokia’s global stature fortifies the foundation of Sprint’s mobility vision and will help make Sprint’s WiMAX multimedia services pervasive and indispensable for customers.”

The strategic relationship with Nokia involves network infrastructure, mobile device and market development commitments. Under the agreement Nokia will:

Be a major supplier to Sprint for WiMAX network infrastructure, including the Nokia Flexi WiMAX base transceiver,
- Develop and market WiMAX-enabled mobile devices in significant volumes, including multimedia computers and Internet tablets,
- Jointly develop mobility services and applications to improve the customer experience, and
- Conduct co-marketing efforts to drive market development and support global adoption to help establish worldwide roaming.

“Nokia shares Sprint Nextel’s mobile broadband vision and is proud to join its industry-leading WiMAX ecosystem,” said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO, Nokia Corp.

“WiMAX is an ideal technology for open Internet models in all major global markets. With Sprint’s leadership, the next generation network will offer innovative mobile broadband services, connecting people with content and technology in new and exciting ways.”

Sprint Nextel is expecting to invest up to $800 million in 2007 and between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in 2008 relating to the 4G WiMAX mobile broadband network.

The operator’s goal is to have a broad range of mobile WiMAX-enabled chipsets and modules and an array of portable data, multimedia and consumer electronics devices available from multiple vendors which work seamlessly among Sprint’s network offerings. As a result, customers will experience an interactive mobile data network that is designed to offer faster speeds, lower cost, greater convenience and enhanced multimedia content.

Flexi WiMAX Base Station

The Nokia Flexi WiMAX Base Station can be installed both indoors and outdoors and does not require air conditioning. Furthermore, its modularity will allow for easy capacity upgrades as traffic increases.

The Nokia Flexi WiMAX Base Station will be commercially available for the 2.5 GHz band at the end of 2007 and for 3.5 GHz in 1Q 2008. WiMAX-capable Nokia mobile devices are expected to be available in 2008.