Sprint Nextel has announced plans to deploy a $4.5 billion fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband network using WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) technology.
Working together with Intel, Motorola and Samsung, Sprint Nextel will develop a nationwide network infrastructure and the WiMAX-enabled chipsets needed to support advanced wireless broadband services.
The Sprint Nextel WiMAX network will use the company's 2.5GHz spectrum holdings, which covers 85 percent of the households in the top 100 markets in the United States, the company said.
The company plans to begin deploying the WiMAX network by the end of next year and to reach as many as 100 million people with the service in 2008.