Sprint, looking to extend the life of their 17 year old iDEN network that for some strange reason remains popular thanks to the push to talk feature that annoys countless numbers of office workers, students, and just about everyone else, has inked an agreement with Motorola who will support the network for an additional 3 years. In addition to making sure the network is running in tip top shape, Motorola has also committed to releasing a pair of iDEN capable handsets during the first quarter of 2011. The first of said two devices is the i886, and it’s the first iDEN device to ship with a side sliding QWERTY keyboard. The second is the i686, an update to the wildly popular i680, and it’ll feature the ability to submerged in water for up to 30 minutes before finally kicking the bucket. Both handsets have yet to be priced; that information will come out at a later date.
All of this is to take place while Sprint simultaneously rolls out their “Network Vision” platform, which is nothing more than a fancy way of saying that instead of using one cell tower for ever one type of wireless transmission, they’ll use a platform that’s able to pump out CDMA on both the 800 MHz and 1900 MHz bands and also be capable of doing 4G. This saves on the cost of maintenance since fewer towers will be needed, while at the same time increasing coverage due to the use of the more attractive 800 MHz band that can more easily penetrate building and also travel longer distances.
We’re big fans of operators upgrading their networks, with Verizon Wireless taking the crown as the operator most conscious of the power of a happy customer who gets signal no matter where they are. AT&T is slowly recovering from the effects of being the sole provider of the iPhone, and T-Mobile has a special place in our hearts since they’re using HSPA+ to deliver download speeds that the other guys only dream of.