WiMAX is licensed spectrum; the WiMAX Forum is working to complete interoperability tests and prove out equipment and networks for 2.5 GHz spectrum; Sprint and Clearwire dominate 2.5 in the U.S.
Problem or opportunity? Potentially both.
“Does it retard it or does it support it?” asked Peter Jarich, principal analyst, wireless infrastructure for Current Analysis. “If you had a bunch of people with spectrum you wouldn’t have anyone big enough to be competitive. So there are only two players; I don’t think it really retards it.”
As a fledgling technology that is, to at least one way of thinking, a new technology, it helps to have big targets at which vendors can aim. “We have a very focused customer base. We do not have to think about multiple moving parameters so we can be very focused on customers and specific use cases and deployments. Two-point-five is our lead product and Sprint Nextel is our lead customer for that,” said Mark Slater, vice president of Nokia Siemens Networks. “With somebody taking a very strong lead … it actually speeds things up because it lets people like us be very focused.”
Besides, there’s other spectrum available and a unified focus on international spectrum, be it 2.5 or 2.5 will build a bigger market, said Scott Richardson, chief strategy officer of Clearwire.
“Clearwire has one of the more prominent positions of targeted WiMAX spectrum globally, not just in the U.S., but in Europe and other markets,” he said. “The reality is in any one market you’re going to see multiple competitors. The fact that Sprint and Clearwire have spectrum in the U.S., there certainly are other spectrum owners and I think you’ll see multiple operators competing in the bands in the U.S. and potentially future frequency bands.”
If, by the time those other spectrums are certified and Sprint and Clearwire have established themselves as mobile WiMAX leaders, that’s what comes from owning the spectrum in the first place.