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Sprint Nextel may adopt LTE technology
13 July 2010
Sprint chief Dan Hesse says company may adopt LTE alongside WiMax venture with Clearwire
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Sprint
WiMax
LTE
4G
T-Mobile
Dan Hesse
Sprint head Dan Hesse has repeated the suggestion that the company may launch LTE technology in addition to its WiMax operation.
The company is considering use of LTE, he has said in an interview with the Financial Times. This strengthens a suggestion he gave to Global Telecoms Business in 2009 that ultimately LTE will be the stronger technology.
A move to LTE would make a merger with T-Mobile USA feasible, as the Deutsche Telekom unit is likely to adopt the same technology.
In 2008 Sprint Nextel rejected an offer from Deutsche Telekom to merge with T-Mobile USA as both the companies use different 3G wireless technologies.
Sprint’s WiMax interests operate through Clearwire, in which it is the largest shareholder. The company is developing a 4G infrastructure that will cover nearly 120 million people by the end of 2010, including New York and San Francisco.
In August 2009 in a long interview Hesse told Global Telecoms Business: “Our view is there will be two 4G standards. There’s a lot of WiMax being deployed around the world, but we agree that LTE will probably be the larger of the two. LTE will more likely be a widely adopted standard than WiMax, but for us we think the time is now, and WiMax is well suited to our spectrum position and it is available to roll out now, where LTE is not.” GTB