¿Virgin Mobile EE.UU. y Qatar se unen por el WiMAX?
While it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, it makes for a flashy headline: Virgin Mobile USA to Offer WiMAX Services . Virgin, of course, already uses Sprint’s network in its MVNO relationship with the carrier so extending the relationship to include a WiMAX-based data offering from Xohm is not too much of a leap. That’s especially true after Virgin Mobile USA’s recent acquisition of premium content and services MVNO Helio.
Pre-Helio, a Virgin Mobile USA WiMAX offering would not fit too well with the carriers other core offering–prepaid voice. Now that Virgin has Helio though, its new, advanced device portfolio and rugged postpay platform could certainly benefit from faster data speeds.
Virgin Mobile USA said it will be doing due diligence in the coming months as Sprint’s planned WiMAX buildout comes to fruition. Virgin wants to evaluate whether a WiMAX offering is in its customers’ best interests and, if so, how and when to introduce WiMAX-based services.
Virgin post-Helio announced its first new product this past week: An EVDO phone called the Shuttle and a couple of new data plans. Could Virgin launch a WiMAX phone this time next year?
Virgin Mobile’s interest in WiMAX isn’t the only sign that the WiMAX sector still has some momentum, CNET is carrying an interview with Intel EVP Sean Maloney about WiMAX, LTE and emerging markets.
"LTE is pretty similar technology (to WiMax) in many, many ways. It’s some way off," Maloney said. "We’ll see what happens with that. … All these technologies are useful. If I can’t get a signal, I love EV-DO, I use EV-DO, I use all these things. But we’re comfortable that WiMax is going to augment these things by being a lot quicker. We still feel comfortable it was the right program and we’re making progress on it."
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