Analysis: Can Sprint come back to pull off its Xohm WiMAX plan?

Despite Sprint's financial trouble, its current WiMAX efforts appear promising, according to one In-Stat analyst.

In addition to product and service announcements made earlier this week, the company said its Xohm service would be commercially launched in its three test cities by April. "That's a little bit faster than I thought," said Daryl Schoolar, senior analyst of the networking group for In-Stat.

Sprint has not revealed to him, either, what other cities it was considering, but members of the www.xohmuser.com Web site indicated that they expected Austin, Texas, to be one of them.

While companies like Verizon with its LTE network, and AT&T and Ericsson with HSPA, are pitching their respective 4G solutions, WiMAX offers several advantages over them, Schoolar said.

First, LTE is a couple of years away, whereas WiMAX is available now, Schoolar said. "Sprint has two years' head start." In addition to new devices with WiMAX built in, through Intel support, existing users will be able to buy WiMAX cards or USB modems for the equipment they already have, he said, noting that USB WiMAX devices are available in South Korea now.

Second, both LTE and HSPA are 3G based, or data over a voice network, whereas WiMAX is IP "from the ground up," Schoolar said. This results in more lag and the possibility of more data loss, he said.

This is not to say that WiMAX doesn't face tough competition. Because it plays in both the fixed and mobile worlds, it will be competing against cable and DSL as well as against the mobile data cards currently offered to business users by vendors such as Verizon - possibly at a lower price.

"Cellular operators might lower their prices to be more competitive with WiMAX to be more of a consumer-oriented service," said In-Stat's Schoolar. In addition, WiMAX will be competing with WiFi and people who use access points where they're available, he said.

But Schoolar dismissed reports that Sprint wasn't committed to Xohm, though they might still spin it off as a separate company, he said. "Barry West got a $500,000 incentive to stay with the company for twelve months."