In an interview with FierceWireless Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said Sprint will gradually phase out its iDEN network. Sprint acquired iDEN as part of its purchase of Nextel back in 2004. As customers sign up for Sprint’s CDMA network rather than iDEN, the closure of the latter will free up the 800MHz iDEN frequency.
Eventually, Hesse said, both of Sprint’s 2G networks will be phased out, just like 1G was. Hesse also mentioned he plans to maintain the relationship with Clearwire as its 4G provider, despite earlier reports of having 4G alternatives like LTE. Clearwire is expanding into new markets, which Sprint enter into by default.
Hesse also went on to say Clearwire’s TDD 2.5GHz spectrum is perfect for WiMAX, but the carrier could use lower spectrum bands for FDD-LTE service as well as offer WiMAX.
