Sprint Nextel says WiMAX is ready for the market

Tests show that Sprint Nextel Corp.'s WiMAX broadband wireless network is ready for commercial service, Sprint and Samsung Electronics Corp. Ltd. said Thursday.

The mobile WiMAX network reached the "key technical milestone" after evaluations in a laboratory and test cities Baltimore and Washington, the companies said in a release. Sprint plans to launch commercial WiMAX, currently branded as XOHM, in those cities later this year. Several hundred Sprint employees in those cities and in Chicago have been using the service, and it remains in a soft launch mode, a Sprint spokesman said.

WiMAX offers data transmission at much faster speeds than other wireless services. Its range allows it to be an option for mobile users and in homes or offices.

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"This is a major step toward launch readiness, and Sprint is extremely pleased with the performance of the mobile WiMAX network and access devices from Samsung," XOHM President Barry West said in the release. "The collaboration with Samsung and our other partners has created a WiMAX ecosystem that has now proven that it can deliver this new technology to the marketplace well ahead of any feasible alternative."

Samsung has helped test and build XOHM so the service is compliant with the mobile WiMAX standard. Last month, Samsung introduced several WiMAX-enabled devices, including a small mobile computer called a Q1 Ultra Premium Mobile PC.

On May 7,Sprint Nextel said it would merge its XOHM unit with Clearwire Corp. (Nasdsaq: CLWR), based in Kirkland, Wash., to form the new Clearwire, which plans to build a nationwide WiMAX network. With money from other strategic investors, the deal has been valued at $14.5 billion.

Overland Park-based Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) is the No. 3 wireless carrier by subscriber numbers.