Sprint Mulls Future of WiMAX Business

By Tim Conneally, BetaNews

November 2, 2007, 12:57 PM

Without an official CEO to succeed Gary Forsee, Sprint is weighing options regarding the rollout of its planned national WiMAX network.

The company has reportedly been in talks since July with a wireless start-up called Clearwire about working together to build a nationwide WiMAX network. No official agreements have yet been made, and given Sprint's current state of administrative flux, they will likely continue unresolved; at least until a new CEO is in place.

Since WiMAX is still quite a risky endeavor, Sprint will continue to weigh its options before deciding on a path that could prove to be tremendously costly. One of the more favorable options discussed entails spinning off Sprint's WiMAX unit and merging it with Clearwire, forming a new publicly traded company as a result.

Other options involve increasing funds for the project by attracting more investors, buying Clearwire outright, or continuing with the deal outlined in July.

The earlier deal would allow Sprint's customers to roam across Clearwire's mobile WiMAX networks, and give Clearwire customers access to Sprint's 3G network. Clearwire's network has coverage in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Alaska and Hawaii.

Sprint's acting CEO Paul Saleh told the Wall Street Journal that the companies are seeking an arrangement that will simplify the experience for customers as much as possible.