The Only Way Ahead For WiMaxThe Only Way Ahead For WiMax

While I had my head down cranking out a feature on Intel's ultra-mobile future last week, Sprint Nextel chairman and CEO Gary Forsee for the first time raised doubts about the future of Sprint's WiMax network project. According to the Wall Street Journal, it appears that a spin-off or a joint venture of some kind with Clearwire could be in the offing, which could well be the only way that WiMax will actually get off the ground in this country.In the face of significant skepticism from Wall Street and from the tech press, the No. 3 U.S. carrier has repeatedly underlined its determination to spend $3 billion to build out a nationwide network based on the mobile version of the wireless broadband technology. Sprint executive Don Stroberg, a forceful and sharp guy, has reiterated the company's full-speed-ahead WiMax policy to me on several occasions. But when Forsee and Stroberg studied the numbers, an alliance with Clearwire surely became obvious as the only realistic tactic. Sprint's ambitious WiMax scheme, lauded by tech journalists including myself for its audacity and farsightedness, is a beast to pull off for several reasons: