4G Blog by 4Ginfo.com

News, info, reviews, and opinions on WiMAX, LTE, Clearwire, XOHM, and Sprint 4G

Thursday, July 31, 2008

There hasn't been much 4G info about which to blog of late, because, well, at this point in the development of the various technologies there simply isn't much to discuss just yet.

AT&T satisfied our hunger for high-tech scoop this week, though, by making a bold move in attempts to block Sprint and their new partner Clearwire from rolling out their much-anticipated WiMAX technology in the USA. AT&T appealed to the FCC to keep the Clearwire/Sprint merger from going through - neither carrier could carry out the rollout plan without the other - essentially to buy themselves some time to introduce their own 4G broadband service, LTE.

So long as the FCC ignores AT&T and allows Sprint/Clearwire to move forward, it is expected that the service could become available in select USA metro areas by the end of the year - DC, Chicago, and Baltimore, to be exact. Of course, there are no devices available to the public market at the moment that would allow people to actually access the high-speed network, but various devices DO exist. At this year's CTI conference, some lucky EVDOinfo-ers got to check out some WiMax-compatible hardware that will presumably be available once the technology itself is made available. Motorola has manufactured a WiMax router and Franklin Wireless has created a USB modem that will work with both the WiMax network AND EVDO Rev-A, - a very exciting prospect, particularly because WiMax won't be available everywhere for quite some time.

Stay tuned for an update on AT&T's bid to keep WiMax at bay - and to keep up to date on future availability of 4G devices and services!

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