14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that Sprint is not determined to remain stuck with WiMAX after all. The company is reported to be testing Long Term Evolution (LTE) equipment, the 4G technology that appears to attract more and more industry players these days, although the company owns 52 percent of the stakes in Clearwire, which is currently working on the deployment of a nationwide WiMAX network.
The fact that Sprint is promoting WiMAX is widely known, yet the company seems to be also interested in testing the competitive technology. According to gigacom, John Polivka, a Sprint spokesman, stated the following when asked about the company's plans with LTE: “You know of our commitment to WiMAX as our 4G play, the only next gen technology commercially offered. … As a prudent Technology Development organization, we are always collecting competitive information about various technologies/equipment to monitor and assess the competitive landscape and any potential impacts to Sprint’s plans.”
For what it's worth, this statement does not deny the fact that Sprint is interested in Long Term Evolution. At the same time, it doesn't suggest that the carrier would consider leaving WiMAX aside in favor of the other 4G technology, so as to go in line with other carriers that have already announced their adoption of LTE.
We should also note the fact that Sprint has some hard times with the 4G network. Perhaps the company thinks that it could leave some space for LTE, just in case a shift is needed at a certain moment. Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff stated at the time when the deal between Clearwire and Sprint closed that the equipment used by the WiMAX network could be transitioned to an LTE network in the future.
As many of you might already know, a lot of carriers and mobile phone makers have lately stated that they would support the LTE technology, which might suggest that Sprint and Clearwire are considering a possible move towards the technology as well.