Nextel Tests High-Speed Wireless Internet
No Commitment To Offer Service Commercially
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Thursday, June 30, 2005
Nextel Communications Inc. of Reston said yesterday it would test a new high-speed wireless technology in the Washington area. The trial, which is scheduled to begin in the fall, will take place in the District, Arlington, Alexandria, Reston and Bethesda, but the service will not be commercially available.
Nextel, which is expected to merge with Sprint Corp. later this summer, is testing the service over various devices, including laptops, desktops and handheld devices. The service, provided through San Bruno, Calif.-based IPWireless, will allow video streaming, online gaming and video conferencing; it is about as fast as cable modem service. The company plans to use airwaves in the 2.5 gigahertz frequency range, which are currently not used for cellular service.
The trial is expected to last at least six months, and it follows another Nextel trial of a similar high-speed service from Flarion Technologies Inc. in Raleigh, N.C. Nextel said it has not committed to making such services available commercially.
The companies declined to disclose the financial arrangement between Nextel and IPWireless during the course of the trial.
