14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless carrier Sprint is the only mobile phone operator in the United States to move towards WiMAX as its choice of the next-generation 4G technology. While others announced plans to use the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard for the move, with plans to roll out their networks starting next year, Sprint already started the deployment of WiMAX and announced that it would deliver the 4G services to a series of markets in the US starting as soon as August this year.
More than 80 cities in the country should benefit for the next-generation communications technology by 2010, the company stated earlier this year, and now a leaked WiMAX roadmap shows some of the areas. Few of them were already known, yet there are still some markets unmentioned before. While cities like Portland, Las Vegas or Atlanta are already known to receive their share of 4G this month, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Charlotte have also been announced to get the services in the near future.
According to Engadget, Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C are markets that should receive WiMAX next year, though they are not mentioned in the leaked document. However, areas where 4G should be deployed this year include Salem and Milledgeville, as well as Boise, Bellingham and West Texas, though other major cities, such as LA or the aforementioned New York are not showed on this year's list.
One way or the other, the WiMAX network is getting more coverage in the country and will soon reach almost all major cities in the US. As the leaked document points out, the network is being built by Clearwire, while Sprint has an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) relationship with it (it also owns control interest in the company). Users can also check out the coverage maps that Clearwire provides on its site for some of the cities in the list, and they will also find there some cities that haven't been included in the leaked roadmap.