Patton: Now there’s another thing I want you to remember. I don’t want to get any messages saying that “we are holding our position.” We’re not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we’re not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We’re going to hold onto him by the nose and we’re going to kick him in the ass. We’re going to kick the hell out of him all the time and we’re going to go through him like crap through a goose!
Sprint will soft launch its XOHM WiMax network in the next few days according to Bin Shen, VP of Product Management and Partnership Development.
Chicago, Washington DC and Baltimore will all go live at soft launch. Apparently a number of data cards have been tested on the network. XOHM will officially launch in the second quarter of 2008 as will several laptops with WiMax embedded in them. Later in the year a number of special purpose devices will launch, as will dual-mode CDMA / WiMax handsets.
XOHM partners include Zyxel and ZTE who currently make Mobile WiMAX CPEs, including express and USB form factors as well as Nokia and Samsung which threaten WiMAX tablets and dual-mode phones respectively.
Sprint’s partners in building out their 4G wireless broadband initiative, include Samsung, Motorola, and Nokia. Samsung gear is going into Washington DC/Baltimore as well as New York City while Motorola gear is being installed in Chicago and may also go live in the next few days.
Tricia Duryee at the Seattle Times checked out a Motorola WiMAX phone in Chicago and posted a video (above).
Interim Sprint CEO Paul Saleh told an investor conference this week that his company was looking at multiple options for dealing with its WiMAX division, including spinning it off to another entity. Saleh said Monday that Sprint was currently examining its plans for widespread WiMAX deployment in 2008 and deciding “if it’s the right course for us.”
LTE deployment may be 2-3 years out, but Saleh seems hell-bent on boosting quarterly returns for his Wall Street buds. Has the insular and sycophant beltway culture captured his soul? Whatever.
In other news, WiMAX-proponent Motorola confirmed that Motorola Chief Technology Officer Padmasree Warrior has left the company, departing shortly after CEO Ed Zander left the building.
She was responsible for Motorola’s $4.1 billion research and development investment and 26,000 engineers. Warrior’s departure may not be linked to Zander’s, but it’s surprising, said Chris Silva, an analyst with Forrester Research. He would have expected changes in product marketing rather than among operational leaders like Warrior, says Infoworld.
Padmasree Warrior is now chief technology officer (CTO) of Cisco. Cisco recently acquired Navini, of course.
