Nextel To Test High-Speed Wireless In D.C. Area

June 30, 2005

Nextel Communications Inc., which is expected to merge with Sprint Corp. later this summer, said yesterday that it will be testing high-speed wireless technology, beginning in the fall, in and around the Washington area, according to an article in The Washington Post early this morning. The trial, expected to last at least six months, will take place in D.C., Arlington, Alexandria, Reston and Bethesda — though the service will not be commercially available.

Devices over which Nextel is testing the service include laptops, desktops and handhelds. The service will be provided by IPWireless and will allow video streaming, online gaming and video conferencing — at about the same speed as cable modem service.

This trial follows another Nextel trial of a similar high-speed service from Flarion Technologies Inc. (in Raleigh, N.C.). Nextel said it has not committed to making such services commercially available.

The companies, according to The Post, declined to disclose the financial arrangement between Nextel and IPWireless during the course of the trial.

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DRB