Hesse outlines Sprint's strategy to conquer wireless world

Predicts that WiMAX, EV-DO Rev. A devices will create a “wireless company of the future”

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse reaffirmed his company's commitment to WiMAX at CTIA Tuesday and said Sprint would become the first company to deploy true mobile broadband capabilities for its phones.

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Sprint CEO Dan Hesse reaffirmed his company's commitment to WiMAX at CTIA Tuesday and said Sprint would become the first company to deploy true mobile broadband capabilities for its phones.

Although Hesse made no mention of potential partnerships with Clearwire or the cable companies during his keynote at CTIA today, he did say that WiMAX would give Sprint a two-year time-to-market advantage in deploying next-generation wireless data services.

“Sprint has a tremendous asset in its spectrum,” he said. “Our bountiful spectrum allows us to use advanced OFDM technology at low cost because wide channels let us put the same amount of data through physical equipment at cost savings that are substantially more than what we can achieve on today’s 2G networks.”

But deploying WiMAX would only be part of Sprint’s commitment to delivering high-speed wireless data, Hesse said. He also announced that later this year, Sprint and Samsung would be releasing the Samsung Instinct, which will be the carrier’s first EV-DO Rev A device directed toward consumers. The new handset will feature peak downlink speeds of 3.1Mbps and peak uplink speeds of 1.8Mbps. Downlink speeds for the device will average between 0.6Mbps and 1.4Mbps, while uplink speeds will average between 0.35Mbps and 0.5Mbps, Sprint says. The phone will also feature full touch-screen features and a virtual QWERTY keypad.

In addition to being Sprint’s first consumer-targeted EV-DO Rev. A handset, Hesse said that the Instinct will also offer a “Voice to Action” button that will give users the ability to voice-activate e-mail, texting, Web search and other applications.

“The end result is a great-looking phone that provides the proof point that the wireless company of the future exists now,” said Hesse. “Speed, content, industry-leading applications and simplicity. All of this will be available at a very competitive price this summer.”

Last month, Sprint announced that it would provide EV-DO Rev. A capabilities to HTC’s Mogul handset. The company started rolling out EV-DO Rev. A technology in October 2006, and the carrier says that the “vast majority” of its mobile broadband network, which reaches over 230 million people, has been upgraded to the technology.

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