Backhaul, billing causes of Xohm delay

Sprint Nextel says provisioning of backhaul is the primary hold-up to the operator's nationwide deployment of mobile WiMAX. Sprint, which was supposed to launch its Xohm network this month, is having difficulty finding high-capacity transport links to connect cell sites as typical T-1 lines that feed today's mobile networks are inefficient for high-speed wireless broadband data, said Xohm President and Sprint Chief Technology Officer Barry West in an interview with Telephony.

To build the network, Sprint is provisioning fiber where economically feasible, West said. In other areas, Sprint is using microwave. The entire process has moved slower than what Sprint expected, causing the delay of the commercial launch.

"Clearly I wanted to hit the April date," West said. "Having missed that date, I want to make sure we come out with a robust service. Right now I'm building sites."

Billing and customer provisioning have also caused delays, but only by a matter of weeks, West said.

To read more about Sprint's Xohm delays:
- check out this article [1] from Telephony

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