Wither Inukshuk

Now that Sprint and Clearwire have announced plans to merge WiMax networks in the United States, does anyone wonder what happened to the Inukshuk WiMax network in Canada?

The network, now jointly owned by Rogers Communications and Bell Canada, seems to have been relegated to second-tier status. Faced with a use or it lose it spectrum scenario, Rogers and Bell pushed out the Portable Internet and Sympatico Unplugged offerings so the companies could keep the spectrum as per conditions set out by Industry Canada.

Since the launch in April of last year, Rogers and Bell seem to have put the service on the backburner, presumably because the companies are worried it will cannibalize sales of other wireless services and/or cable/DSL offerings.

WiMax, of course, is a wireless broadband technology that offers much higher bandwidth than either cellular or Wi-Fi networks. It is closer to wired services such as DSL or cable in terms of speed.

Too bad MTS Allstream didn’t keep the spectrum for itself considering the company now has national wireless ambitions. Perhaps the service would be used by more people if MTS Allstream didn’t sell the spectrum for a pittance.

July 20, 2007 | Filed Under News Items and Commentary