Battle of the broadband

[Commentary] Typical broadband speeds in the United States are barely in the top 15 globally, trailing such technological hotbeds as Luxembourg and Norway. DSL and cable modem services are unavailable in many rural areas, leading to far lower broadband use in the country than the city. And even in the city, consumers often have only two choices of provider -- the dominant local phone company or the local cable monopoly. On Wednesday, prospects brightened for a new national broadband service that would increase competition, drive innovation and improve service. Slumping telco Sprint Nextel, which holds a trove of valuable airwaves, announced that it was joining forces with Intel, Google and several other companies to build a broadband network based on WiMax, a long-range version of the popular WiFi technology. With Sprint and Clearwire combining their airwaves, and their partners ponying up $3.2 billion, the venture probably has what it takes to field a WiMax offering across a large swath of the country. If it lives up to its potential, it will be a true alternative to today's broadband duopoly -- and a mobile one at that. With some luck, it might even speed other wireless phone companies to upgrade their networks and join the scrum.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-sprint8-2008may08...
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