A soft launch of Sprint’s Xohm WiMAX service is currently underway with company employees in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in preparation for commercial WiMAX service launch beginning later this year in select U.S. cities.
At CES in Las Vegas, Sprint announced new Xohm mobile Internet business agreements involving web portal services and WiMAX network access devices. The company also named an advertising agency of record to help launch the Xohm brand in the United States. Partners include:
- Amdocs, which has been awarded a multi-year agreement for software and services in support of the launch and operations of Xohm mobile Internet. This includes building and maintaining the Xohm Internet portal, customer relationship management, service activation and provisioning, and billing operations.
- SwapDrive , which is providing a hosted storage solution where Xohm subscribers can secure, organize, manage and access all their user-generated digital content though the Xohm portal from any device with a supported browser.
- eTelecare Global Solutions, which providing voice and e-support customer care services.
- McAfee, which will implement online security products for PCs used on the Xohm WiMAX network.
- OQO, which intends to embed WiMAX wireless capability in an ultra mobile PC (UMPC) in 2008.
- ASUSTek of Taiwan, which plans to produce a line of WiMAX-embedded devices for availability during 2008.
- Zyxel and chip supplier Sequans, which will produce a WiMAX modem subscriber device for mobile Internet data and voice services, which will debut with the launch of commercial Xohm service.
- Soho Square, which has been named advertising agency of record to help launch the Xohm brand in North America.
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- In November 2007, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire terminated their agreement signed in July 2007 to jointly build a nationwide mobile broadband network using WiMAX technology and to promote the global development of WiMAX-based services. The partnership aimed at reducing the cost of network construction and at accelerating the rollout of a nationwide 4G service. The two companies said they could not resolve complexities associated with the deal and failed to reach final agreement on the terms of the transaction.