Samsung Signed for New York WiMax

US mobile operator Sprint Nextel has awarded the contract to build a WiMax network in New York to Korean vendor Samsung, the American company announced yesterday.

According to a press release from the Virginia-based operator, the deal followed the signing of similar contracts for Samsung to provide WiMax coverage in Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. However, neither party deigned to discuss the financial terms of the contract.

Sprint has said its new WiMax network will, for the time being, operate under the name Xohm and has said that it will provide mobile data transfer at speeds up to five times those currently available. The company said that it plans to launch the service in Chicago and the Washington and Baltimore areas by the end of this year.

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire have previously announced plans to build high-speed mobile broadband networks in several major US markets, covering around 100 million inhabitants by the end of next year.

Earlier this month Sprint said that it hoped to generate WiMax revenues of between US$2 billion and US$2.5 billion during the 2010 financial year. By that time it will have spent around US$5 billion on WiMax and should have networks covering 150 million people in the US.