Sprint Taking Chicago to the WiMax

TAKING WIRELESS TO THE WIMAX
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, AUTHOR: Jon Van jvan@tribune.com]
With the digital age increasingly going wireless, Chicago soon will become one of the first cities in the country to have access to the next generation of computer communication, in which people will keep connected to the Internet wherever they go. The new network, constructed by Motorola, will be operated by Sprint Nextel Corp. and will envelop the region in a digital signal as powerful as the broadband service used by many homes and businesses. Customers will be able to log onto the Internet on a laptop computer at home and then stay online as they travel around the city and suburbs. It is a $3 billion national bet by Sprint that just as voice communication has migrated from traditional wired phone networks to mobile phones, customers will prefer to go to MySpace, eBay and other Web destinations without being tied by a cable to a home or office computer. Sprint says it should start operating by the end of the year and will provide competition to Internet connections offered by Comcast and AT&T. Municipal governments in Chicago and several suburbs have sought to establish citywide Wi-Fi wireless Internet service. Sprint's network will be entirely separate from those networks and probably will be operating long before anything launched by Chicago, which is considering various proposals from vendors.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070411wimax,0,4141230.story?c...