Reuters reports today that Sprint has chosen WiMAX as its next-generation technology, and plans to spend up to $4.5 billion to build out the new network. "Sprint will work with cell phone makers Motorola and Samsung Electronics as well as with chipmaker Intel Corp. to develop the technology," the article states.

"The decision is a clear win for Intel and its ecosystem of partners that have spent years to develop the 802.16-2004 (Fixed) and 802.16e-2005 (Mobile) WiMAX specifications," writes TMCnet's Robert Liu. "WiMAX is a sister technology to the widely deployed Wi-Fi wireless local area networking standard; however, its usage isn't only restricted to unlicensed radio spectrum."