THE MEANING OF XOHM

Barry West, chief technology officer for Sprint, is fond of joking about what people think is the meaning of Xohm, the name of Sprint's new WiMAX network. One employee suggested that, because an Ohm is a measurement of electrical resistance, X-Ohm must mean the absence of resistance. Or playing upon the fact West hails from former British Empire lands, one colleague insisted X.O. and H.M. obviously formed an acronym for “Hugs and Kisses to Her Majesty.”

While having fun with the Xohm name, West stops short of telling us what it actually does mean. So Telephony put the question to Sprint's public relations department. Sprint's John Polivka came back with several answers.

Xohm (pronounced “Zoam”) is a made-up word, Polivka readily admits, which in this day with our Cingulars and Verizons should come as no shock. But Sprint fully intends to make Xohm a household name, hopefully spawning such usages as “Xohm me” — presumably to communicate via a WiMAX device — or “Meet me in the Xohm.” (Telephony's dated suggestion: “Xohm me to the MAX!”) The name itself did well among focus groups, with people keying in on the lead letter X for it's “cool factor,” Polivka said. The end goal is for the new name to become synonymous with the mobile Internet just as Xerox has become synonymous with photocopying.

Not all of West's jokes are entirely inaccurate either. Though not meant to literally imply zero electrical resistance, Xohm is meant to convey the removal of barriers to the wireless Internet, as well the absence of things that have been particularly impeding to wireless data growth: walled gardens, subscriptions and the general telecom business model, Polivka said.

In short, Sprint is intending Xohm to mean a lot of things, many of which aren't supposed to be entirely clear at first glance. Either that, or the URL was available.