Sprint to Kill Off WiMax Once and for All On Nov. 6, 2015
Oct 7, 2014, 3:17 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Sprint today confirmed it will permanently shutter its WiMax network on or around November 6, 2015. The company had previously said it would operate the failed 4G network until "the end of 2015." Sprint said it has identified 6,000 "redundant sites that we expect to decommission and terminate the underlying leases," as part of the process, which will save the company some money. According to Sprint, it has already begun to notify customers about the pending changes. The company said any WiMax/3G devices still in use will continue to have access to Sprint's 3G service after WiMax goes off the air. "Most WiMax subscribers are upgrade eligible due to the age of their device," said a Sprint spokesperson. "In addition, offers are being planned for targeted postpaid WiMax subscribers prior to the WiMax network shutdown." Sprint plans to refarm the WiMax spectrum for LTE. Last year, Sprint shut down its iDEN network has already begun to roll out LTE on the iDEN network's old airwaves.
Comments
"Most WiMax subscribers are upgrade eligible due to the age of their device,"
Your choices are
- Resrve yourself to EVDO 3G 200 kbps to 1.5 mbps.
- commit to 24 months (keep in mind you're out of contract)
- buy a new phone at full msrp
- make monthly payments on your invoice for a new device
- GOTO another carrier.. but have the expenses outlined above
And this fails to address Sprints pre paid customers ... Boost and Virgin Mobile .. many of these customers have WiMax service.
Also Sprint has contracts and commitments to MVNOs to co.tongue to provide WiMax
Plus Sprint has several subscribers that have a dedicated in home WiMax modem by Motorola that has an unlimited WiMax plan attached to.it. What about those subs...
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Lets face it Wi-max sucked, although if Clear in their infinite wisdom would have put external antenna ports on their devices it would have been a whol...
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Time marches on. No technology lasts forever. Sprint has given ample warning.