Sprint yesterday announced that it's delaying the commercial launch of its Xohm WiMax service from April, as was previously announced, to "later this year."

"While Sprint offered no explanation for why the launch would be delayed, unconfirmed reports suggest that the company is still rolling out hardware and base stations in at least one of the three major metropolitan areas that the initial launch was planned to include," writes Brighthand's Adama D. Brown.

"Rumour has it that much of the problem is in securing sufficient backhaul for the network, which is supposed to deliver connection speeds of up to 4 Mbps," writes The Register's Bill Ray. "To support such connections every cell site needs high-capacity leased lines, which are expensive to install and maintain. Sprint wants to use microwave connections, but even getting those line-of-sight links working is taking more time and resources than anticipated."

"With every delay, Sprint is losing some of its early advantage against rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which won't launch rival '4G,' or 'fourth generation' networks for a few years," warns Silicon Alley Insider's Dan Frommer.

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