Sprint today confirmed it will permanently shutter its WiMax network on or around November 6, 2015.
The company had previously said it would operate the failed 4G network until “the end of 2015.” Sprint said it has identified 6,000 “redundant sites that we expect to decommission and terminate the underlying leases,” as part of the process, which will save the company some money. According to Sprint, it has already begun to notify customers about the pending changes.
The company said any WiMax/3G devices still in use will continue to have access to Sprint’s 3G service after WiMax goes off the air. “Most WiMax subscribers are upgrade eligible due to the age of their device,” said a Sprint spokesperson. “In addition, offers are being planned for targeted postpaid WiMax subscribers prior to the WiMax network shutdown.”
Sprint plans to refarm the WiMax spectrum for LTE. Last year, Sprint shut down its iDEN network has already begun to roll out LTE on the iDEN network’s old airwaves.
