Sprint will invest $2.5 billion by the end of next year in WiMAX by Corina Ciubotaru

Data connections have reached 4G with the advent of WiMAX, the network that has a broader range than wireless at speeds five times higher. Sprint Nextel is one of the companies that want a piece of the WiMAX action and is planning to spend $2.5 billion by 2011 to develop it. The first cities boasting coverage from Sprint and its associate, Clearwire Corp. by the fourth quarter of 2007, are Washington, Baltimore and Chicago. WiMAX isn't expected to interfere with Sprint's EVDO service, but it's intended to work both on laptops and on mobile phones. XOHM (pronounced "zoam") is the name of the new service, which is expected to have 100 million users by the end of 2008. It will most likely bring profits between $2 billion and $2.5 billion starting in 2010, the year when developers hope the users count will reach 125 million. Besides Clearwire, Sprint Nextel has also signed agreements with Nokia, Samsung and Motorola to develop WiMAX compatible services, and with Google. The devices using this latest technology will benefit from a Web portal designed especially for them by the smart folks at Google. Right now, DSL cable connections have the highest speeds but technology is evolving fast and soon, there will come a time when the Internet will be all around us, broadcasted wirelessly from specific locations using protocols similar to WiMAX. The world will be different then and it's up to each of us to prepare for it and embrace the advances that come along with it.

related story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070816/tot-uk-sprint-wimax-b86c26b_1.html

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Google wants to own spectrum and release a new breed of mobile phones by Corina Ciubotaru

It appears the fight for spectrum in America is not coming any closer to an end. Google and a few other organizations including Free Press have urged the FCC to change the rules for the upcoming spectrum auction in January 2008. This lead to a series of concerns and opposition from large telephone carriers Verizon and AT&T, who currently divide the market and who might have to change their inflexible policies if companies like Google enter the market and decide to give customers more freedom in choosing their mobile carrier. But why the sudden interest in cell phones from the search engine giant? Well, it appears the company intends to release customized Google phones, with incorporated features like search and e-mail. And since part of the spectrum is going to be used exclusively for unlocked phones, it's easy to imagine Internet-enabled Google phones, probably at much lower selling prices than Verizon or AT&T's current offer. The mobile ad market is growing fast, and the search company from California gets the most part of its income from contextual ad revenues so it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if controlling part of the spectrum will mean controlling part of the ads. It is still unclear if Google still intends to take part in the auction with the $4.6 billion it promised to bid had all the requested rules been approved. Even so, partly modified auction rules may mean smaller investors might be interested to buy some spectrum though competing against the likes of Verizon would be an intimidating venture.

related story: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9028658&intsrc=hm_list

by Corina Ciubotaru for SigEx Telecom (http://sigex.com)

SigEx Telecom is quickly becoming the leading telebroadcasting communications provider allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share video clips through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, websites, blogs, video-mails and SMS. SigEx Telecom captures many add-on services for its clients generating royalties and fees in a broad spectrum of marketing services including public relations and promotions.