WiMAX, Google, Sprint, Clearwire
Someone asked me a question today about Google's new partnership with Sprint.
Sprint/Nextel is the third largest wireless carrier in the U.S., falling far behind Verizon and AT&T - who together control 51% of the wireless market. (Sprint services are also resold by Comcast and Time Warner as part of their packages.)
Sprint has announced it won't bid in the 700 MHz auction. Sprint has other plans.
About a year ago, Sprint announced that it would “invest up to three billion dollars over the next few years in a joint venture with Intel, Motorola, and Samsung in the development of a mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, or WiMAX network.” (From this research paper by Christopher Glaser.) Sprint has been hard at work on the standard for mobile WiMAX, which is an IEEE 802.16e standard.
Mobile WiMAX is a big deal (if it could work) because it would allow a lot more data to move much more quickly than it does over traditional wireless networks. It's slower than DSL or cable modem service, but it's mobile and much faster than what our cellphones can offer now. As the Glaser paper points out, because the waves are shorter there will need to be a lot more base stations put up — and there are other downsides (you should read his paper).
Sprint bought up (cheaply, I understand) licenses to transmit using spectrum in the 2.5 GHz area — much higher frequencies, shorter wave-lengths than 700 MHz. Sprint and Clearwire announced last week that they will they “will link their respective WiMax wireless broadband networks to
give subscribers a seamless roaming experience across territories that
eventually will cover 300 million U.S. residents. The network will
deliver between 2M bps (bits per second) and 4M bps downstream and
about half that speed upstream, they said.”
The idea is that this would cost about $50 a month.
Here's another advantage to 2.5 GHz - not only do Sprint and Clearwire have big holdings in this area, but I understand that other countries are also looking at 2.5 GHz as the place for WiMAX deployment. So that means that equipment etc. could work (potentially) worldwide. That isn't the case with 700 MHz, where only the U.S. is deploying it (so far) for wireless services. Everyone else is still using 700 MHz for television.
Now Sprint and Google have announced they're working together. Here's the press-release-speak:
Sprint network bandwidth, location detection and
presence capabilities will be matched with Google’s popular communications
suite – Google AppsTM – that combines the GmailTM, Google CalendarTM and Google
TalkTM services. Customers will be able to experience a new form of interactive
communications, high speed Internet browsing, local and location-centric
services, and multimedia services including music, video, TV and on-demand
products.
So what does this mean? Google is spreading its bets, and sees global potential in WiMAX. The standard may not be fully baked, but if it worked you could have a clear alternative to the existing locked-up wireless world in the U.S. So Google may be throwing its weight behind cable companies and Sprint rather than dealing directly with AT&T and Verizon.
It's obvious that Google isn't conditioning its collaboration with Sprint on complete openness. The Sprint network won't be sold wholesale - something that Google is clamoring for in the 700 MHz auction. The Sprint network may not (we can't tell yet) allow any device to use it. Sprint is saying that it will provide open standard APIs
(application programming interfaces) to people who want to create customized products for browsable
devices, so that may open up the application world - right now application developers have to pay 40-50% of their revenue to a carrier in order to have their application be usable on phones that are locked to that carrier's network. Can't really tell, though - it's too early - whether Sprint will ease up on taking a cut.
But there's no guarantee that Sprint will be giving access on a non-prioritized basis to the entire internet.
Is Google being hypocritical? Perhaps, on one level. Openness may go out the window when you have to keep your shareholders in mind. On another level, Google could say that it's impossible to get at the wireless world using the 700 MHz spectrum because that has been locked up by the existing carriers. So they're simply trying another route, and the benefits to consumers will far outweigh any niggling concerns about openness.
Or maybe they just wanted to make sure that the Google phone had a distributor.
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2 Responses to “WiMAX, Google, Sprint, Clearwire”
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Susan,
A side topic:
I read the reference paper by Chris and was disappointed. I was expecting to see some empirical data comparing WiMAX and LTE but instead it is no more than opinion piece that jump into conclusion that Sprint is making a wrong decision. There are several technical problem with the paper showing the lack of understanding on the technologies by the author.
I am not saying Sprint-Google is right to bet on WiMAX but the challenges facing them are not what stated in the paper.
Back to the topic of Google move on 700Mhz, it comes actually quite refreshing. During the Supernova 2007, several people stood up (isen, dsearl etc) and asked FCC to release it as open spectrum. John Kneuer basically say “bid for it and give it away as open spectrum”. Now, altho Google has not stated that is what they will do, they are probably the best company in the position to do actually that.
Of course, monetizing an open spectrum is challenging but Google has never known to do things the usual ways and have always able to monetize on what they give away for free pretty successfully.
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