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Buzz Out Loud 719: Yotta yotta yotta

There's a lot of storage headed your way in the coming years. A lotta, in fact. We'd even go so far as to say it's a yotta. Byte. In other news, no one in the tech industry will be taking a vacation between June 15 and July 12, due to the second coming of the iPhone, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu is getting behind a more democratic music industry. Try that one on for size, RIAA. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 719

Comcast mulling metered access, 250GB monthly bandwidth caps http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080507-comcast-mulling-metered-access-250gb-monthly-bandwidth-caps.html… Read more

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire detail 4G plans

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are combining network assets to build a new nationwide 4G wireless network that the companies say has huge benefits for each of them.

Until now, Sprint and Clearwire have been on separate paths to build nationwide broadband wireless networks using WiMax, an IP technology that can blanket entire cities and provides more than five times the speed of 3G wireless networks. Now they are joining forces and creating a new company that will have access to more wireless spectrum than any other company in the entire country.

Cable operators Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House … Read more

Qwest dumps Sprint for Verizon

Qwest Communications International is ending its relationship with Sprint Nextel and has struck a new deal to resell wireless service through Verizon Wireless.

The company said Monday that it plans to resell wireless service from Verizon Wireless starting this summer. The companies have signed a five-year contract. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Qwest has been reselling Sprint's wireless service since 2004 under its own brand. A spokesman for the phone company said it will continue to service customers on the Sprint network until its contract expires with Sprint in February 2009. Current customers will be given … Read more

Sprint Nextel to spin off WiMax network

Update at 4:07 a.m. PDT on Wednesday, May 7: This article has been updated to reflect the official announcement.

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire will create a new joint venture that will combine both companies' WiMax assets to create a nationwide broadband wireless network, the companies said Wednesday.

The deal, which will be valued at about $14.5 billion, is being backed by cable operators Comcast and Time Warner, as well as Intel and Google.

News of the deal was earlier reporter in The Wall Street Journal.

The new joint venture has raised a total of $3.2 billion … Read more

Could Sprint ditch Nextel? Makes sense

Is Sprint Nextel getting ready for a fire sale?

It sure looks that way following speculation around Wall Street on Monday of a possible sale or breakup of the beleaguered wireless operator. First, The Wall Street Journal reported that German phone company Deutsche Telekom was considering buying the company. Later the same day, another Wall Street Journal article cited sources who said Sprint Nextel is considering unloading its Nextel assets, a move that might make the $22.3 billion wireless operator more attractive to potential buyers.

While a Deutsche Telekom sale seems like a long shot, it's not surprising … Read more

Reserve your Samsung Instinct

Samsung has launched a promotional Web site for its upcoming Instinct for Sprint. You can log on to see a full list of features and you can check out a photo gallery. Also, while the Web site doesn't specify a release date, you can sign up to reserve your very own Instinct. This is one phone we're definitely looking forward to reviewing; so far we can offer an Instinct video and an Instinct photo gallery. The iPhone-like Instinct made its debut last month at CTIA in Las Vegas.

Sprint Nextel hires new CFO

Sprint Nextel on Thursday announced that is has tapped former Eastman Kodak executive Robert Brust, 64, to be its next chief financial officer.

The beleaguered wireless carrier, which hired a new CEO at the end of last year, has made several management changes as it tries to get its business back on track. It has been struggling to retain customers since its 2005 merger with Nextel.

In January, Sprint said it was searching for a new finance chief. Company controller William Arendt has been acting as interim CFO since Paul Saleh left that position in January.

Brust has a long … Read more

Comcast walks away from Pivot

Comcast said Wednesday it has changed its mind on a joint wireless communication venture with Sprint-Nextel, according to a Reuters report.

The service, called Pivot, was begun as a partnership between the cable giant, Sprint, Time Warner, Cox Communications, and Advanced/Newhouse Communications in 2006. It offered a package of services, including TV, broadband, and both a landline and wireless phone service.

"We decided to discontinue the service because the product required a lot of operational complexities, so we decided it wasn't the approach we wanted for the long term," said a Comcast spokesperson.

Well, that's … Read more

WiMax backers: Our future is bright

WASHINGTON--WiMax's most prominent supporters are predicting that, despite not exactly stunning support of the wireless technology so far, it will take off this year.

Speaking at a conference here hosted by the Wireless Communications Association International, Michael Seymour, vice president of Alcatel-Lucent's North American broadband wireless unit, said WiMax has experienced "tremendous growth" in recent years, even in "emerging markets" like the Dominican Republic, and predicted improvements in the technology would only continue.

"WiMax is working, it's ready, it's delivering today," Seymour said, noting that about 110 people at his … Read more