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Sprint Nextel Revives WiMAX Plans

Mobile carrier looks for partners to cut cost of high-speed wireless network

By Jim O'Neill,  Newser User

Posted Jan 30, 2008 1:46 PM CST

(Newser) – Struggling Sprint Nextel, burdened with layoffs, retail store closings, and massive mobile-subscriber defections to AT&T and Verizon, may be getting back in the game. The company, which recently caved to investor pressure to drop plans for a $5-billion nationwide WiMAX network, is again talking with Clearwire, its partner in the abandoned venture, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The nation’s third-largest mobile operator bailed on the high-speed wireless network in November, but new CEO Dan Hesse has brought the proposal back to the table, going after Google, Intel, and Best Buy for funding to help cut its costs. Sprint has rolled out small pieces of the network, designed to bring broadband-speed Internet to laptops and mobile devices, in several markets.

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse is looking to reposition the company for a major WiMAX push.
Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse is looking to reposition the company for a major WiMAX push.   (Associated Press)
A Sprint phone store sign is enveloped by sunlight and shadows in this Feb. 28, 2007 file photo, in Murray, Utah.
A Sprint phone store sign is enveloped by sunlight and shadows in this Feb. 28, 2007 file photo, in Murray, Utah.   (Associated Press)
Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse may be planning a major WiMAX move as the company struggles through downsizing.
Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse may be planning a major WiMAX move as the company struggles through downsizing.   (Getty Images)
A man talks on a cell phone as he walks past a Sprint store on 42nd Street in New York. Reports are saying that Sprint Nextel Corporation's new chief executive is planning a new WiMAX push.
A man talks on a cell phone as he walks past a Sprint store on 42nd Street in New York. Reports are saying that Sprint Nextel Corporation's new chief executive is planning a new WiMAX push.   (Getty Images)
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