Sprint to buy ZTE WiMAX CPE

ZTE USA and Sprint Nextel today announced they have signed a master purchase agreement under which ZTE will supply its WiMAX PC cards and home networking gear to Sprint for its national WiMAX rollout.

Sprint, which plans to make WiMAX services commercially available to a large chunk of the U.S. by the end of 2008, will be buying the cards in both express and USB form factors, and will also be purchasing advanced modems for home networking. The PC cards will enable Sprint customers to have WiMAX access via their laptop computers or other mobile devices or using a desktop computer. The home modem, which is equipped to enable VoIP services, will enable users to establish broadband home networks and can replace existing cable modems or DSL devices.

“This is an exciting day for ZTE and a significant company milestone. We are honored to be a WiMAX ecosystem partner chosen by Sprint to provide solutions for its advanced wireless broadband network,” said Hou Weigui, chairman, ZTE Corp., in a prepared statement. “Maximizing our deep R&D resources and ability to continually and quickly innovate to keep up with market demand, we are looking forward to working with Sprint to bring the next-generation of wireless innovation to U.S. end-users.”