Da-Chief
05-19-2008, 13:23
http://i.dslr.net/urls/72/4172.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Sprint-Broadband-Direct-Goes-Offline-July-31-94556)
Remember Sprint Broadband Direct (http://www.sprintbroadband.com/about.html)? Sprint is e-mailing the remaining customers of their line-of-sight-based wireless broadband service to inform them that they'll be terminating the service starting July 31. Made painfully irrelevant by the combination of Sprint EVDO and WiMAX, the 1.5Mbps service, which required a 13.5" diamond-shaped dish (http://www.sprintbroadband.com/equipment.html), saw mixed reviews (http://www.corpsman.com/comments/1067) over the years from our users. In the e-mail to customers, it looks like they're blaming the FCC and a spectrum policy decision for the closure:As the result of a recent FCC action, Sprint will no longer have access to the spectrum used to operate our Sprint Broadband Direct Service in your area. Due to this FCC mandate, Sprint will discontinue your service by 6/30/2008. This discontinuance of service will also affect your EarthLink email account. Please contact EarthLink directly if you choose to continue with their service.
One user who pays $45.00 a month now for 1.5Mbps service, tells me that despite the added mobility, he's not thrilled about being nudged toward EVDO for $59.95. Many users have had this service (and the same IP address) since as early as 2000. But the service, which blocked ICMP (pinging) and suffered from high-latency, was more than ready to be put out to pasture in the face of mobile WiMax.
Given limited Sprint deployment and promotion, I had almost forgotten that the service still existed. Sprint stopped offering the SBBD to new customers back in 2001 during a rough patch, then started taking new subscribers again in 2005.
More...
Remember Sprint Broadband Direct (http://www.sprintbroadband.com/about.html)? Sprint is e-mailing the remaining customers of their line-of-sight-based wireless broadband service to inform them that they'll be terminating the service starting July 31. Made painfully irrelevant by the combination of Sprint EVDO and WiMAX, the 1.5Mbps service, which required a 13.5" diamond-shaped dish (http://www.sprintbroadband.com/equipment.html), saw mixed reviews (http://www.corpsman.com/comments/1067) over the years from our users. In the e-mail to customers, it looks like they're blaming the FCC and a spectrum policy decision for the closure:As the result of a recent FCC action, Sprint will no longer have access to the spectrum used to operate our Sprint Broadband Direct Service in your area. Due to this FCC mandate, Sprint will discontinue your service by 6/30/2008. This discontinuance of service will also affect your EarthLink email account. Please contact EarthLink directly if you choose to continue with their service.
One user who pays $45.00 a month now for 1.5Mbps service, tells me that despite the added mobility, he's not thrilled about being nudged toward EVDO for $59.95. Many users have had this service (and the same IP address) since as early as 2000. But the service, which blocked ICMP (pinging) and suffered from high-latency, was more than ready to be put out to pasture in the face of mobile WiMax.
Given limited Sprint deployment and promotion, I had almost forgotten that the service still existed. Sprint stopped offering the SBBD to new customers back in 2001 during a rough patch, then started taking new subscribers again in 2005.
More...