Sprint lays out its wireless broadband network plans

Colleague Denise Pappalardo reports that Sprint is looking to speed up its broadband wireless network this year while expanding its geographic reach. The carrier is upgrading its network with EV-DO Revision A technology later this year and plans to have faster services available to customers in the first quarter of 2007. Today Sprint has EV-DO Revision O deployed throughout its network, which reaches 150 million people across the U.S.

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Key Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, protested proposed legislation in Congress that would weaken earlier attempts to keep broadband providers from discriminating against online content or services offered by competitors. As IDG New Service’s Grant Gross reports, several lawmakers, consumer groups and Internet companies contend that the ‘Net neutrality provisions in a draft telecom reform bill won’t protect Internet users from large broadband providers that want to charge extra to give some Internet services priority over everyone else. Executives at several broadband providers have said they want to charge new fees to Web content suppliers, according to one Congressman.

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XO said an agreement to spin off its wireline assets has been scrapped because pending litigation is delaying the deal’s closing. The CLEC said it mutually agreed with Elk Associates to terminate last fall’s agreement for Elk to purchase the company’s national wireline business for $625 million in cash and assumption of $75 million in debt. Elk is owned by XO’s chairman and largest shareholder, Carl Icahn.