Google’s wares will be featured on a Sprint-hosted online portal to its forthcoming WiMax network, which will launch next April. They will include Google’s mobile web search and services, GTalk, Gmail and Google Calendar, said Sprint spokesperson John Polivka.
Sprint chose Google in a bid to boost interest around its expensive and somewhat controversial WiMax network. If you said the word Internet, Google is known for the Internet and we want Sprint to be known for the mobile Internet, Polivka said. That was the same marketing message, virtually word-for-word, that various Sprint spokespeople touted to the media yesterday.
When Sprint first announced its plans for the WiMax network, back in early August, it said it spend about $3bn to build it. Last week, it announced a deal with ClearWire to help it do so. The companies would independently install infrastructure in their respective targeted regions and subscribers will be able to roam between the two systems. The companies expect the network to go live to 100 million people by the end of next year. When completed in mid-2010, the network would be available to 300 million Americans, according to Sprint.
WiMax promises fast mobile connectivity beyond the reach of WiFi hotspots. Indeed, the two technologies are expected to be complimentary. Polivka said Sprint’s WiMax network would enable a three to five times speed improvement over any currently available network.
Because it has higher bandwidth than WiFi, enterprise users would, for example, be able to wireless download PowerPoint slides, corporate video presentations, field-sales force automation applications and large contracts much quicker, Polivka said. Sprint already has received a lot of interest from business users during its WiMax trials, Polivka said.
Sprint envisions its network will spur the development of new devices that will be geared toward higher-capacity multimedia applications. Sprint’s decision as a carrier to promote and originate a WiMax network has triggered a lot of development activities, Polivka said. Intel is one of WiMax’s most prominent proponents and is currently working on WiMax chipsets. Motorola and Samsung are separately also developing WiMax chipsets, all of which could be embedded into various mobile devices.
In addition to having a broader wireless footprint and higher bandwidth than WiFi, WiMax promises better security, more robust service and less interference because it operates in the licensed 2.5-GHz spectrum, according to Sprint.
But WiMax often is viewed as being much hyped yet emerging and its viability as a dominant global wireless technology is frequently questioned. Sprint hopes it will give it a competitive advantage against its larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless. This is Sprint’s Internet play, Polivka said.
For Google, the deal follows its well-publicized efforts to persuade US regulators to open a swath of soon-to-be-vacated wireless airwaves for use by any device, application or service provider. Google has asked the Federal Communications Commission to impose rules to ensure some of these 700-700 MHz airwaves would be open access. If the FCC agreed, Google said it would bid at least $4.6bn for the open-access spectrum when it comes up for auction by early next year. But so far the FCC has not supported all of Google’s demands.
Sprint does not intend to block any applications or WiMax-enabled devices on its forthcoming network, Polivka said. The [Google] announcement today shows we want to work with application developers to initiate new applications for the network, he said.
Polivka noted that some of the 700 MHz spectrum being sought for an open-access network would be possible in advance from Sprint’s WiMax networks.
However, he stopped short of saying Sprint would not charge more for higher-bandwidth applications. That hasn’t been worked out yet, but there likely will be tiers of service, Polivka said. He said the way DSL is currently charged in the country, whereby users pay a higher price for faster service, is one of the models Sprint is looking at.
How the ClearWire deal will affect Sprint’s previously forecast budget to build the network is not yet known.
Our View
Having Google on board lends credibility to Sprint’s WiMax plans. But the deal is potentially of greater significance to Google.
About two and a half years ago, the search company told Computer Business Review that it had an important role to play in revolutionizing the mobile Internet. At the time it was somewhat vague on what types of new mobile products it was working on. But it was clear that it had no plans – at that time – to be a nationwide WiFi supplier.
Since then, Google has launched several new mobile applications, but it has had limited success in getting some of them offered through wireless carriers. In that regard, Sprint’s WiMax homepage likely will be valuable real estate for new Google mobile apps.
