Carrier still has abundant spectrum

Sprint is unlikely to place caps on WiMax data usage, according to vice president of 4G operations Todd Rowley. The executive, speaking at the MobileBeat conference in San Francisco, suggested Sprint wants to avoid causing the same kind of changes in subscriber behavior that were apparent after the company introduced 5GB monthly caps on its 3G data plans.

Changes to the 3G plans made customers more cautious and aware of their data usage, which conflicts with the message behind Sprint's WiMax marketing. The company is still attempting to encourage customers to indulge in the additional bandwidth and speed of the 4G network.

Aside from the marketing objectives, Sprint does not appear to be in a situation where data caps are necessary to maintain fast speeds on the 4G network. The company and partner Clearwire are said to be using only 30MHz of spectrum in most markets. An additional 90MHz to 120MHz are available to further bolster the WiMax network in many areas, while a significant portion of the spectrum could also be used to deploy LTE for mobile devices.

Sprint currently offers its unlimited WiMax service alongside 3G usage capped at 5GB. Rowley admits that the company may change its stance on WiMax usage at some point in the future, although any cap would likely be closer to 20GB. [via Network World]

By Electronista Staff