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Google, Sprint, Others to Build Wireless Data Network
Nerdposeur writes "Google has announced that it will partner with several other companies to build a high-speed mobile data network. In a separate but related deal, Google will also become the default search provider for Sprint, including having one-click search access and Google Maps pre-installed on some Sprint phones. 'The consortium includes a disparate group of partners: Sprint Nextel, Google, Intel, Comcast, Time Warner and Clearwire. The partners have put the value of the deal at $14.5 billion, a figure that includes radio spectrum and equipment provided by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire, and $3.2 billion from the others involved. They expect the network, which will provide the next generation of high-speed Internet access for cellphone users, to be built in as little as two years, but there is no timetable on when it will be available to users and the price is not determined. The partners are seeking to beat Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless to the market.'"
As long as they don't have mysterious "fiber splices" into a sealed room, I'm in. Ma Bell's mobile broadband service sucks. If these folks set up a reliable connection and don't get greedy then they will win.
It does give food for thought, google have some much resources, and apparently a finger in every pie, but have stated little publicly about what their eventual goal is.
They seem to be moving into telecommunications, as well as data warehousing, on-line information storage, retrieval, and personal communications...
Does it make anyone else wonder whether we heading towards a future where there's only one communications company?
Yet another Google adventure which won't make them any money.
Balmer's chairs must be really happy lately.
Sprint has the spectrum, they paid for it a long time ago. Now that Nextel isn't generating as much free cash they don't have the money to build the network, so that is where the outside investors come in.
The tightening credit market has not helped either.
You have to spend money to make money. There are already a lot of last-mile data solutions out there, so someone has to spend a lot of money get the ball rolling. Have to make the market in this case.
Google working together with Comcast.
I have never had a good experience with Comcast. Maybe Google will rub off on 'em.
...looks like the Android train has left the station, with only Sprint aboard. So much for T-Mobile offering Android and Google stuff. This also means I'm going to have to ditch my GSM phone too. Dammit Sprint!!
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
are ready now. no gadgets required. see you there? you can be more helpful than you might have imagined. there are still some choices. if they do not suit you, consider the likely results of continuing to follow the corepirate nazi hypenosys story LIEn, whereas anything of relevance is replaced almost instantly with pr ?firm? scriptdead mindphuking propaganda or 'celebrity' trivia 'foam'. meanwhile; don't forget to get a little more oxygen on yOUR brain, & look up in the sky from time to time, starting early in the day. there's lots going on up there.
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is it time to get real yet? A LOT of energy is being squandered in attempts to keep US in the dark. in the end (give or take a few 1000 years), the creators will prevail (world without end, etc...), as it has always been. the process of gaining yOUR release from the current hostage situation may not be what you might think it is. butt of course, most of US don't know, or care what a precarious/fatal situation we're in. for example; the insidious attempts by the felonious corepirate nazi execrable to block the suns' light, interfering with a requirement (sunlight) for us to stay healthy/alive. it's likely not good for yOUR health/memories 'else they'd be bragging about it? we're intending for the whoreabully deceptive (they'll do ANYTHING for a bit more monIE/power) felons to give up/fail even further, in attempting to control the 'weather', as well as a # of other things/events.
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dictator style micro management has never worked (for very long). it's an illness. tie that with life0cidal aggression & softwar gangster style bullying, & what do we have? a greed/fear/ego based recipe for disaster. meanwhile, you can help to stop the bleeding (loss of life & limb);
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the bleeding must be stopped before any healing can begin. jailing a couple of corepirate nazi hired goons would send a clear message to the rest of the world from US. any truthful look at the 'scorecard' would reveal that we are a society in decline/deep doo-doo, despite all of the scriptdead pr ?firm? generated drum beating & flag waving propaganda that we are constantly bombarded with. is it time to get real yet? please consider carefully ALL of yOUR other 'options'. the creators will prevail. as it has always been.
corepirate nazi execrable costs outweigh benefits
(Score:-)mynuts won, the king is a fink)
by ourselves on everyday 24/7
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Google maps as defaults on Sprint Phones. Who's ox is gored by this one?
Apple, who doesn't have any one in particular for GPS and mapping, and their 'business partner' AT&T.
Microsoft, whose strategy is clear as mud, and can't seem to get mobile working very well at all.
T-Mobile/DT, who doesn't partner and eschews WiMax altogether.
Verizon, who is more proprietary than any of the aforementioned, in my personal experience.
Nice move Sprint. Too bad WiMax has proven so difficult and expensive to deploy.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
In 2006 I got sick of contract lock-in and went to Virgin Mobile - phones that're cheap & easy to replace, no contract, and my usage fees total maybe twelve bucks a month. Uses the Sprint network, so coverage is not and never has been a problem.
If Sprint and Google can whizbang something together that whiffs of open construction and come up with a mini PCIe card that'll fit in my Asus EEE's spare slot, and price it reasonably with similar coverage, I'd happily sign away a two-year fraction of my monthly income.
The pain was excruciating and the scarring is likely permanent, but that just means it's working.
So, are we gonna see something like an "Emergence" of "A Fistful of Datas"?, or some sort of new Vertiform City? They may want to think twice about opening that box..., hehehe.. .MAKE IT SO, Nrs. One...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
"The partners are seeking to beat Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless to the market."
Looks like they are a few years too late. As much as I hate CDMA and contracts, my Verizon EVDO connection works pretty damned well. I can play WoW and play movies from netflix's VoD selection over it.
They might be able to produce a cheaper product or even a better one, but they sure as hell are not beating anyone to the market.
Nextel/Sprint had an inferior cell tower technology and was forced to place the towers at a closer proximity than most other carriers. This turned out to be a big bonus for the new spectrum... Closer towers=faster more reliable speeds. The other carriers are going to have to play catch-up on the technologies or invest a lot more on towers....
Am no fek Buddhist, but this is enlightenment.
Sprint Nextel, Google, Intel, Comcast, Time Warner and Clearwire.
I give the probability of fair pricing to the consumer coming out at 2%.
I give the probability of anything actually getting built beyond a pilot in the next 10 years at 5%.
I give the probability that these jokers can actually work together at 2%.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
Wasn't there big news not too long ago about an Australian company detailing the many ways in which WiMax was an absolute disaster and was not a feasible technology for widespread mobile broadband?
Ive been a sprint customer for the last 6 years. Their phones(if you get the right ones, ie sanyo) are unmatched in quality and durability. Their service people usually know what they are doing, and if they do make a mistake, they trip all over themselves trying to make it up to you.
Ive been using google apps on my sanyo phone for a while, but it will finally be nice to see sprint support them, even ship them on the phones.
If sharing a song makes you a pirate, what do I have to share to be a ninja?
Talk about strange bedfellows. A throttler and Net Neutrality, what's Net Neutrality? carrier getting together with Google? Half a billion from Google, a billion from Comcast. It's going to be a shitty worthless service. BAD investment, Google. You're going to get screwed by your "partner."
I don't know if it's necessarily bad for Microsoft. For example, Sprint has some Windows Mobile phones. When I read this summary, I immediately thought of Sprint's HTC Touch Vogue. The google maps application, a free download from Google, is pretty cool on that thing. Same goes with some of the other HTC devices you can get today from AT&T.
Everyone loves to play up the Google/Microsoft rivalry, but I think Google applications on Windows Mobile devices is actually an excellent combination. It's funny how much better things are when they interoperate, and users ultimately have the choice in what they use.
Google seems to have an extra ! somewhere in their motto interpreter lately.
This isn't some new network to be built, it's just the existing friggin Xohm and Clearwire networks that will be spliced together with money thrown at it by Google and others. It makes sense for Sprint to chop off Xohm as they're just cleaning up that mess for a sale. Clearwire has been spinning its wheels for awhile and needs a shot in the arm. I wish Slashdot editors had a clue...