Sprint is building a WiMAX high-speed mobile data network which will debut commercially in Baltimore this September. Other cities are expected to receive service in the fourth quarter and beyond. “The XOHM mobile broadband experience will be largely location-centric,” explained Rick Robinson, vice president of XOHM Services. “We’re creating a new dimension to online presence, making points of interest near your current location easy to identify and access. This ‘geobrowsing’ effect provides location context and will give XOHM members a richer personal broadband experience when they’re mobile.”
Unique location and personalization capabilities will customize information for the user at home, at work or places in between. Customers with WiMAX-capable devices such as laptops and other portable devices will have location-based information at their fingertips, easily finding businesses, entertainment or events and quickly checking weather and traffic to get there. They can search for interests, see results plotted on a map, acquire detailed information, get directions and assemble friends conveniently while mobile.
The location-enabled mobile experience will span a range of devices such as laptops, mobile Internet devices, media players, cameras and car navigation. XOHM is enabling web services application programming interfaces (APIs) so a broad collection of service developers and device partners can use location to offer increased utility for XOHM members. XOHM will offer these location capabilities with a corresponding privacy policy to make sure XOHM members are informed about how XOHM will handle their data. At launch, a XOHM portal will offer location-based content from leading brands including:
- uLocate Communications Inc. of Boston, Mass. the primary partner in building XOHM’s location enabled mobile experience, is providing its WHERE™ platform and leading friend finding application Buddy Beacon® to connect XOHM customers with their favorite people, places and things. Through WHERE, XOHM users will have access to local information including restaurant reviews, news, events, weather and much more. Select launch partners on the WHERE platform include Yelp, Eventful, Topix, NAVTEQ and Accuweather.
- Yelp Inc. of San Francisco, Calif., the leading Web site for local business reviews, provides relevant user reviews and ratings for anything local, from restaurants to doctors and more. The reviews can be searched and sorted by category or shown in a map view, with access to Yelp.com for details on any of the three million local reviews.
- Eventful Inc. of San Diego, Calif., will provide users with listings of local events displayed in a map view. Customers can select sub-categories of interest, search for events and click through to Eventful.com to get more event information and purchase tickets.
- Topix LLC of Palo Alto, Calif., will provide local news based on current location as a summary, with an option to read full stories and others at its site.
- NAVTEQ of Chicago, Ill., will offer XOHM customers NAVTEQ Traffic™ real-time local traffic and commuter updates with links to the Traffic.com® Web site for additional detailed construction, incident and drive time information.
- AccuWeather of State College, Penna., will provide three-day forecasts based on users’ current locations. An easy link to AccuWeather.com mobile Web site gives more forecast details, radar/satellite images, and more.
- Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., will contribute industry-leading Local Search capability along with additional features and functionality from Google Maps.
- Openwave Systems Inc. of Redwood City, Calif. will provide the location platform that enables XOHM partners to use location to provide valuable services.
- Autodesk Inc. of San Rafael, Calif., will provide a standards-based interface and geospatial services, such as addresses, ZIP code and city/state information, to enhance location within the XOHM network.
"By incorporating location and local content at such a fundamental level Sprint is bringing something entirely new to the user experience," said Greg Sterling founder of Sterling Market Intelligence and senior analyst, Local Mobile Search. "And the ability of that experience to travel with the user and automatically adapt to new locations is equally powerful."
Sprint is working with WiMAX ecosystem partners and others to incorporate WiMAX technology in a range of computing, portable multi-media, interactive and other business and consumer electronic devices, and to provide XOHM customers with a unique mobile broadband service experience. Additional information can be found at www.xohm.com
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving nearly 52 million customers at the end of the second quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
SAFE HARBOR
This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this news release regarding plans for the development and deployment of a broadband network based on WiMAX technology; the timing, availability, capabilities, coverage, and costs of the WiMAX network; products and services to be offered on the WiMAX network; and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. The words “estimate,” “project,” ”forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “believe,” “target,” “providing guidance” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are projections reflecting management’s judgment and assumptions based on currently available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements.
Future performance cannot be assured. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
- the uncertainties related to the implementation of the company’s WiMAX business strategy;
- the costs and business risks associated with deploying a WiMAX network and offering products and services utilizing WiMAX technology;
- the inability of third party suppliers, software developers and other vendors to perform requirements and satisfy obligations necessary to create the products and software designed to support WiMAX features and functionality, under agreements with Sprint Nextel;
- the impact of adverse network performance;
- other risks referenced from time to time in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
Sprint Nextel believes the forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and speak only as of the date of this release. Sprint Nextel is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.
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