LAS VEGAS -- CTIA Wireless 2008 -- Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S)'s delayed April launch of its inital Xohm WiMax markets comes down to a lack of backhaul horsepower, as the operator confirmed on Tuesday. Vendors here, however, expect that Sprint could have WiMax services up and running by autumn.
Sprint's backhaul problems are said to be a matter of lack of bandwidth to the WiMax cellsites, which are expected to pump in and out several megabits per second at launch, providing high-speed broadband links to 802.16e cards and other devices. Sprint CTO Barry West confirmed to Unstrung on Tuesday night that backhaul was "an issue." (See Sprint Quiet on WiMax Launch Date.)
The operator has been using T1 arrays but wants to rent more fiber and use Local Multipoint Distribution System (LMDS) microwave links to provide 20 Mbit/s or so of backend muscle for the WiMax sites, according to a vendor at the show.
Wireless network throughput is only as good as the connection to the wired network, as many home users have found when plugging new 100 Mbit/s-plus pre-802.11n wireless LAN routers into their DSL. The WiFi can be slowed by its weakest link. The same holds true for larger wireless networks.
Sprint has been trying to move away from using T1 lines for backhaul for some time now. It said in 2006 that it was searching for alternatives to its near-ubiquitous T1 links. The problem for the operator will likely be that while T1 is relatively cheap and easy, fiber is more costly, something it can ill-afford at the moment. (See How Is T1 Like a Pizza? and Sprint to Cut 4,000 Jobs.)
The word at the show, however, is that this is a temporary blip and that Sprint is expected to have markets up and running in the fall, if not earlier. Sprint has steadfastly refused to name a new date for its commercial Xohm launch and didn't return calls and emails for comment on a possible autumn launch.
Unstrung, shame on you for glibly re-reporting Sprint's excuses without even the slightest hint of journalistic questioning. The idea that Sprint has been suddenly taken by surprise by the fact that 4G sites might need more backhaul than a T1 is frankly laughable. And given they like the rest of the industry are in the midst of a nationwide program to upgrade backhaul at existing cellsites, it's pretty easy to order a few extra microwave backhaul radios for their 4G sites. Methinks the delay relates to the WiMAX part of the equation in some way (presumably limited availablity of device chipsets or network instability) and Sprint is just protecting the WiMAX brand with as utterly boring an excuse as they can think off (cf. the negative advertising job done to WCDMA when the Joe public media picked up the '3G doesn't work' story after initial delays).
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