Though at one point thought to be in jeopardy as Sprint’s upper management undertook changes, the high-speed WiMax network for wireless data regained a place in the company’s strategy. As of the CTIA show in Las Vegas this week, Xohm appears on track.

Sprint touted picking up a Frost & Sullivan United States Technology Leadership Award for its efforts with WiMax, an occasion that looked unlikely last fall when Gary Forsee got knocked out of the CEO post. Forsee had been a big WiMax booster, despite a price tag estimated for it in the neighborhood of $5 billion.

However, Sprint announced a handful of WiMax-oriented initiatives, aimed at getting the network up and sprinting (ha ha) forward:

• A XOHM Application Developer Program anticipated for May 2008 to provide the global WiMAX developer community with the tools and process required to create and introduce innovative products for XOHM’s customer base. The program features an open environment, thorough documentation and requisite tools.
• The Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition will be available during the first half of 2008 for use in XOHM service areas.
• Samsung announced at CTIA the mid-year availability of the Samsung E100 PC Card, and the availability in the fall of the Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium Mobile PC. The devices will operate exclusively on Sprint’s XOHM mobile broadband Internet network.
• Brightpoint and Nokia Siemens both announced support initiatives for various back-end processes of the Xohm network

Sprint said deploying Xohm over its 2.5GHz spectrum will allow it to bring WiMax to 75 percent of households in the top 100 US markets. That’s much more optimistic than the apparent shutdown Xohm faced back in October 2007.

While both companies plan to continue building WiMax solutions separately, news of Sprint pushing Clearwire aside raises more questions about WiMax deployment than it answers.

An AP report said the partnership would have Sprint’s WiMax service complementing the smaller Clearwire’s offering. The end of the pairing may give Clearwire founder Craig McCaw headaches to complement his sleepless night instead.

"The termination of the agreement certainly dramatically impacts the longer-term financial pressures on Clearwire and its aggressive build-out strategy," analyst Christopher King of Stifel Nicolaus said in the report.

Though the rollout of Xohm, Sprint’s WiMax service, appeared in doubt a month ago, later news about Xohm indicated it would continue, despite WiMax booster Gary Forsee being pushed out of Sprint’s CEO position.

Few should be surprised at the name mentioned as a possible partner for Clearwire now that Sprint has left the picture. Yes, CNNMoney has invoked the Google name, as Clearwire could handle the deployment and the service while Google does its content and ad serving thing.

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The best news about Sprint offering WiMax suggests that the project will launch. Recently a Sprint executive told a conference audience the service would come and tear down the walls to high speed wireless access.

How Xohm will be structured to do so from a corporate viewpoint could change. Sprint’s current search for a new CEO, coupled with a rough third quarter that saw subscribers and net income plunge, may require Xohm to zoom out of Sprint.

The Wall Street Journal said Xohm could be spun out as a separate unit. Clearwire, a wireless startup shepherded by Craig McCaw, has been mentioned as a possible partner for Xohm.

The promise of WiMax for Internet users, particularly those in rural areas, makes it a compelling technology. It has a far greater range than WiFi, and offers practical connections of 2 to 10 Mbits/s.

Google has been associated with Sprint for the Xohm project by taking a role in building a portal for Xohm users. It has been reported that the work between Google and Sprint could extend to Google’s mobile software appearing on phones offered by Sprint for its subscribers.

But the Berkeley Digital Media blog said Sprint’s Rick Robinson categorically stated Xohm would tear down the wall to complete, wireless Internet access:

Sprint Nextel is clearly not afraid of being reduced to a bit-pipe (a reason most often attributed for the restricted Internet access from your phone). They are confident that a new content delivery model that is Ad supported, will let them earn from the Ad delivery and distribution.

As to the future of that ad support, one need look no further than Sprint’s Xohm portal partner, Google. Though Google has only been announced as the portal builder for Xohm, one has to believe Sprint would want to tap Google’s advertising expertise to monetize the service.

CNet said investors are blanching at the prospect of a $5 billion price tag for a service that could extend mobile and Internet access at speeds better than 3G networks to 100 million people by the end of 2008.

A Sprint spokesperson cited in the report held out a glimmer of hope the next CEO won’t stroll in and kill WiMAX:

“I can’t speculate about what a new CEO will do,” said Leigh Horner, spokeswoman for the company. “But for now, we are continuing to build out the WiMax network. We expect a soft launch of the service by the end of this year and a commercial launch in April of next year.”

If it comes to pass that new Sprint leadership dumps the Xohm project, it becomes difficult to see where the promise of real high-speed mobile access will come from, especially if an existing telecom walks away with the 700MHz spectrum auction next year.