Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Sprint Nextel in New WiMax Bid - WSJ.com

Never underestimate (Clearwire founder) Craig McCaw...

In the last few weeks, newly installed Sprint Nextel Corp. Chief Executive Dan Hesse has moved quickly to impress investors with layoffs and an upper-management shake-up at the wireless carrier. Now there are signs he is teeing up a bold restructuring of the company's $5 billion plans to build a new high-speed wireless network using WiMax technology.

Sprint has revived serious discussions with WiMax start-up Clearwire Corp. to form a joint venture that would bring in outside funding from the likes of Google Inc., Intel Corp. and Best Buy Co., people familiar with the matter say. The plan could dramatically lower the price tag of Sprint's WiMax project and allow Mr. Hesse to focus on fixing the company's core cellphone business -- answering two concerns Sprint investors have had.

Or Jeff Bezos:

[...]

WiMax could be a sorely needed distinguishing point for Sprint, especially if new WiMax devices emerge that capture consumers' interest. Amazon.com Inc., whose Kindle e-reader works over Sprint's existing cellular network, has approached the carrier about building a separate WiMax mobile device that would be tailored more to Web surfing, multimedia downloads and e-commerce, according to a person familiar with the discussions. One issue in the talks is how much Amazon would have to pay Sprint for wireless access, the person said. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment.

Sprint Nextel in New WiMax Bid - WSJ.com

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