30 July 2007

Google to spread into wireless market

Search engine heavyweight Google has approached Sprint as part of its drive to enter the mobile market.

The company has reportedly offered Sprint an undisclosed amount of money to work alongside it on the future US broadband wireless network Wi-Max.

The Wi-Max network is a city-wide version of Wi-Fi and it promises to be up to five times faster than current mobile internet connections.

According to a joint Google and Sprint statement, if the plans go ahead, customers will be able to search the internet and carry out "interactive communications" using the new "social networking tools" through a new mobile portal supported by the two companies.

Sprint customers will also benefit from being able to use Google's new Internet Apps suite including Google Calendar and Gmail, as well as various multimedia services including GoogleTalk.

Spokesman for Sprint John Polivka commented: "This is a revenue sharing deal in terms of advertising revenue ... [and] what we're calling an open internet opportunity."

"Wi-Max customers will subscribe to the... portal for free and log on to and avail [themselves] of the applications that they want, which include the Google suite of applications," he added.

Sprint plans to test Wi-Max services in areas across the US by the end of the year, including in Chicago, Washington DC and Baltimore.

By the end of 2008, the service, which will be run in conjunction with Clearwire, will cover 100 million users.

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