LOS ANGELES (WiMAX Day). In an article published last week in Computerworld, Peter Cannistra, the director of mobile broadband strategy at Sprint Nextel, discussed the opportunity ahead for Sprint as it begins to deploy a nationwide WiMAX network in America.

Some analysts and commentators are not altogether convinced that Sprint’s $3 billion investment will succeed, and believe that Sprint is taking quite a large “gamble” on WiMAX.

However, Cannistra views WiMAX as an enormous opportunity for Sprint in which the company has a significant first-mover advantage. The opportunity for Sprint is “to be first to market with a true wireless broadband, multi-device value play for the consumer” according to Cannistra.

Network Roll-out
The advantage for Sprint also comes from the gargantuan 2.5 Ghz spectrum they own in key markets across America. “Our risk mitigation is our spectrum situation,” Cannistra said. Sprint inherited the spectrum when it merged with Nextel last year. When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in America approved the merger of Sprint and Nextel, one condition was that the spectrum of the combined company would be utilised in 2007.

According to Cannistra, Sprint will have WiMAX deployed in two markets by the end of 2007. By the end of 2008, “[t]he network will cover 100 million people” and 170 million by the end of 2010.

Sprint intends to use some of its existing infrastructure to help leverage the speed and efficiency of the roll-out. In particular, Sprint will use its network of radio towers to install WiMAX base stations. “In every case, it’ll be a new base station at the cell site itself. But we think with the large number of cell sites we have now, we have a pretty good advantage.”

Mass Market Mobility
Sprint intends to target a wide audience with its WiMAX service. “We’re confident a mass market, value-priced wireless broadband offering will attract a large number of customers,” said Cannistra. Among the selling points Sprint sees are price and capacity. Sprint will need to offer price points that are competitive with other broadband services. “We’ll have the ability, given our less expensive per-megabyte network costs, to offer value pricing aimed at the mass market.”

Another key selling point for Sprint is the mobility offered with WiMAX. As consumers everywhere abandon their old fixed-line phones in favour of mobile services, so too consumers will want broadband that is mobile.

To achieve this Sprint will work with partners such as Intel, Motorola and Samsung to ensure the availability of devices enabled for mobility. Cannistra said, “the emphasis of our business case is mobile broadband in a wide array of consumer electronic devices.” Mobility will be achieved with laptop computers, phones and PDA devices, and the seamless integration between them is also a key objective for Sprint. “Imagine your laptop, your personal video player, all these devices, all being accessible from a single account with a single device portal. It’ll be very easy and very user-friendly.”