With the ITU’s recent certification of WiMAX technology as a 3G standard, we speculated that Sprint would be somewhat off-put by the fact that their 4G “baby” wouldn’t be seen in the same light anymore. Afterall, people like to put titles on services and technologies, and bigger numbers mean better stuff (a BMW 328i doesn’t evoke the performance of a 335i – just as 3G doesn’t sound as “high-tech” as 4G). Sprint had been touting their XOHM WiMAX service as the next-gen 4G network for the US, and they’ve spoken up about how they feel about WiMAX getting the “3G” label.
Apparently, Sprint is still committed to the WiMAX ecosystem that they’ve been culturing for the past several months, and they want the world to know that it’s not just about how many G’s you have, but how you use it. In other words, Sprint is publicly announcing that their 3G WiMAX network will still be leaps and bounds beyond current 3G technology – just like a multi-lane freeway will allow higher traffic flow (at the same speed limit) than a two-lane highway, WiMAX will provide considerably higher throughput than current 3G tech. The 3G title has little to do with performance.
“I think we spend entirely too much time talking about the Gs,” said Atish Gude, Senior VP of Sprint’s mobile broadband operations. The point is that Sprint’s service is still slated to blow our mind when they finalize their infrastructure build-out. We’re waiting, Sprint. Bring it on!
[Via: Infoworld]