A Massachusetts court has given Sprint permission to turn off its WiMax network in stages over the next two months. Sprint will turn WiMax off in 16 cities, including New York, today, with 39 more to follow on February 29, and the remaining 25 cities on March 31.
Sprint has been forced to keep the WiMax network running in order to give two non-profits more time to transition away from WiMax. Mobile Citizens and Mobile Beacon, which provide internet service to schools, sued Sprint last year over its planned WiMax shutdown.
Sprint has been trying to get the groups to switch from WiMax to LTE, but the groups alleged Sprint is offering unreasonable terms. The groups convinced a court to enforce an injunction, which is being lifted in steps starting today.
Sprint wants to refarm the 2.5 GHz WiMax spectrum for LTE.
