Sprint and Dish are teaming up on a project to deliver wireless broadband to areas that may otherwise be out of the loop.
Announced on Tuesday, the joint venture would lead to a rollout of fixed wireless broadband to Corpus Christi, Texas, around the middle of 2014. The service would at first be available only in a limited number of sections around the city. But the plan is to expand to other markets in the future, Sprint said.
To enable the high-speed access in a customer’s home, Dish will install an outdoor router or indoor equipment to send the strongest possible signal. Both the outdoor and indoor gear would tap into the 4G TDD-LTE signal that will be available on Sprint’s 2.5 GHz spectrum.
“With millions underserved by inadequate broadband, the potential to bring a high-speed fixed wireless solution is very compelling to both Dish and Sprint,” Tom Cullen, Dish executive vice president of corporate development, said in a statement. “We both bring distinct skills, not the least of which for Dish is a workforce of professional technicians who visit thousands of homes every day performing professional installations for both video and broadband.”