Sprint talks more about LTE, considers running it and WiMAX side-by-side

Earlier this week, Sprint said that it was contemplating a switch to LTE and that a decision on the matter could come in four to six months. Now it seems that the carrier is even more serious about using LTE, as Bob Azzi, Sprint's Sprint's Senior Vice President of Networks, discussed the topic with PC World. Azzi explained that "WiMAX is not an option" with the spectrum that Sprint currently has, and that it only has "indirect ownership" of Clearwire's spectrum holdings. While Azzi says that Clearwire has enough cash to maintain its current WiMAX network, it's pretty obvious that the build-out has been slowed lately. The solution, according to the exec, could be to begin building out an LTE network that would complement, not replace, the current WiMAX network. That would call for tri-band phones that would have support for LTE along with WiMAX "velcroed on."

When the Sprint-LTE news came out the other day, many of you were concerned that if Sprint were to adopt LTE that its WiMAX network and devices would be left behind. Thankfully, Azzi makes it sound like Sprint would operate both networks concurrently, at least for a certain amount of time, so that its WiMAX customers wouldn't be left out in the cold. So, Sprint customers, now that this news has emerged, what do you all think of the possibility of Sprint and LTE getting together?

Via Engadget, PC World

Disqus Comments