Sprint’s Xohm is out; WiMax becomes Clearer now

By on Dec 8, 2008 at 1:16 PM
News December 8, 2008

With “4G” on the horizon (some are reluctant or plain refusing to call WiMax 4G) and the Sprint and Clearwire merger finished, the latter has decided to change its name. Instead of using the “Xohm” name Sprint had for its WiMax services, Clearwire has decided to just call itself “Clear”. We figure that after closing a $14.5 billion merger with Sprint, and receiving a generous $3.2 billion from major investors and tech companies, they clearly wanted a change (bad pun, we know). Now we’ll know the future WiMax company by its short, sweet, and crystal clear name. For the first twenty days, Clear, formerly Clearwire, will be trading with the CLWRD symbol before going back to CLWR. The future is looking pretty bright for Clear after being given the go-ahead by the FCC and the all-clear by its shareholders and investors. Have we driven the new company’s name into your head enough yet?

[Thanks Roger A!]

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18 Comments

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  • cwcanty

    Xohm or clear….both are terrible names. Just call it 4G and be done with it. Atleast “4G” might have some market recognition.

  • jr

    From wikipedia on 4G -

    Many companies have taken self-serving definitions and distortions about 4G to suggest they have 4G already in existence today, such as several early trials and launches of WiMAX, which is part of the formal ITU standard for 3G.

  • http://bgr tblack

    I don’t care nothing seems to come to dover delaware anyway

  • BoogerEater

    I guess this is the last nail in Sprint/Clear’s coffin, being the the rest of the world is going with LTE for their 4G networks, Sprint and Clear will have build their own, full networks, no roaming/licensing partners to share with. Lamers.

  • Roger A

    @BoogerEater – Actually LTE isnt even deployed yet, where as WiMAX networks have been in place in many countries – Korea being one of them and Russia is another….remember HTC MAX 4G phone?!?!

    As for building FULL networks – it would be nice if a company finally does that for once.

    Regardless if you like WiMAX or LTE there is two very distinctions…

    1. WiMAX is NOW, and is being built out rapidly, and has major cable, chip maker, and information backers. This gives it a head start. CDMA/WiMAX phones as well as GSM/WiMAX phones are already coming or have come to the market. Oh, and so far – NO CONTRACTS

    2. LTE is still testing, will not even be deployed in any major city till 2010 – likely with contracts in place – but LTE phones will contain ONE technology making them cheaper and more abundant.

    Its all a matter of which one can gain the best speed, coverage, price… How many of you ACTUALLY travel the world where you need a world phone when 99.999% of the time your in North America ANYWAY?

  • celz

    wimax is going to compete with verizon fios for home net, cable, and home phone.. it will also have the fastest laptop modems.. having lte in cellphone would not offer much anyway.. in europe they want mobile tv to go thru the standards so all it will do is data and phones dont even have enough ram, rom, or proc. speed to handle anything much faster than whats in europe and asia already.. and one last thing sprint can still make an lte network wimax will just allow them to soak up all of the market share

  • Mr. Hi-Definition

    I know this technology is out now, but I’m still waiting for LTE.

  • BoogerEater

    True WIMAX is out now and is going to be on its way out the door. Sprint is the only carrier in the US to decide to go that route. And sure it’s out now, but where are the phones that run on WIMAX? Where are the data cards that run on WIMAX. Amazing this technology is out but only testers have the equipment availble to use it. You can say the same thing about LTE, they’re testing it in some places in Europe, and only the testers have the equipment available to use it as well. What’s the difference? Sure, HTC says they will be the first to release a 4G/WIMAX0phone…. Where is it? WIMAX is availble, but how can I use it?

  • jj50

    This article is like four days behind the news. Sprint has already rebranded Xohm as “Sprint 4G”.

    Hello, BGR? Helloooooooooo?

  • celz

    the wimax cards are available now just like they have been for a while now.. lte wont be available for years 2011 at the earliest.. and what is the avg customer and even the hi end user goin to do with 100mb per second.. what application besides phone as a modem could usefully use that.. there is a point when web browsing and video streaming will be hampered not by bandwidth but by processing speed, ram, rom, and camera and screen resolution.. and trust me that point is way before 100mb probably like 7 or 10mb maybe less.. would all of u pay to fund a 4g network when u use 3g services.. by putting the first 4g network out sprint will start taking all of the cable customers just like vzw fios is and not to mention take all of the data card market share.. is there a part of the equation you sprint haters see that the ceos of google and time warner and all of the other fortune 500 sponsors dont.. maybe you guys should be corporate consultants

  • BoogerEater

    I went on Sprints website to find a broadband card that supports wimax and found none. I started a chat with William D, on their website as well and asked if they knew of any phones or broadband cards that support wimax and he said they don’t have any now and Sprint hasn’t released any information on any phones or cards coming out with wimax support… Please, let me know where I can get one.

    As far as LTE coming out, someone said 2010 someone else said 2011… All speculation, no one knows for sure when networks will be up, could be the middle of next year… But, who knows?

  • Dan

    @Boogereater

    WiMax equipment is not sold through Sprint.com yet. Vist http://www.xohm.com/en_US/shop/ and you can view the Wi-Fi router, Express and USB air cards, Nokia N810 Internet Tablet – WiMAX Edition, and 10 WiMax enabled laptops. Later this year you will start to see the dual band EVDO/WiMax cards that should be sold through the Sprint website.

  • Don Louie

    Verizon fans like to put down anything that make the company look like it’s dragging it’s feet, Sprint 4G will be around soon enough until then Clear is here and LTE isn’t

  • Mike

    @jj50

    Actually Sprint’s service (dual mode cdma/wimax) is re-branded that way…not Xohm. Xohm is a different company, different brand and is only a single mode service.

  • celz

    xohm will be filtered out. and will u lte guys please tell me what u need a 100mb phone connection for do any of you guys even have 100 mb connection at home? 4g is great but if sprint gets the first punch for non phone uses all of the lte guys will be paying for the whole network thru phone uses..

  • crashoverride

    Sprint err…Clear…err….whoever is in trouble since VZ just announced they are going to begin roll out in 2009. That is not good news for Sprint who needed this boost…bye bye Sprint…rats again…

  • 1whoknows

    Sprint is about to layoff 1,000′s, Verizon is hiring back people who retired to expand their FIOS network. Clearwire is not taking any of the former Sprint/XOHM employees into the new comapny (Clear.) Verizon is preparing to eat everybody’s lunch including Comcast, Clear and Sprint

  • Don Louie

    It still has to get here, it would make a whole lot of sense if the people that laid of were part of XOHM

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