Intel backed the proposed Sprint-Nextel merger, saying it would c...
Intel backed the proposed Sprint-Nextel merger, saying it would create synergies needed to speed deployment of broadband wireless data networks and enable the next generation of media and mobile applications and services. A provider of silicon and platform solutions…
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to the broadband wireless industry, Intel told the FCC it doesn’t have a technology commitment from either Sprint or Nextel regarding 2.5 GHz deployment efforts. But it called the companies’ efforts in that band “very promising.” The combined Sprint Nextel spectrum holdings would result in a 2.5 GHz footprint covering about 85% of the population in the top 100 BTAs. Intel said spectrum aggregation would have “substantial, pro-competitive public interest benefits.” For example, it said, it would enable “the same efficiencies that led to the aggregation of the cellular/PCS spectrum, creating national carriers from an initially highly fragmented industry.” Intel, which just launched its first WiMAX chip, stressed the 2.5 GHz band’s importance. WiMAX is targeted for licensed deployment in the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands, it said, adding: “Without sufficient globally harmonized spectrum, manufacturers will not be able to achieve the economies of scale from high volume production of WiMAX components.”