New Sprint wireless network's 'open access' could be boon for consumers

NEW YORK -- Sprint Nextel Corp. finally has rounded up the financial backing it needs to build a faster wireless network. But for consumers and the electronics industry, speed may be the least important thing about the new network.

Though specifics are scant, everything points to the network breaking with the current model of the U.S. wireless industry, where carriers operate the service and sell the devices that use it.

Right now, when you buy a Sprint phone, you use it on the Sprint network, and Sprint picks the applications that come with the phone.

Sprint has indicated the network will be run on an "open access" basis, where anyone with a compatible device can connect to it.

If everything works well, this could lead to a proliferation of cell phones, Web tablets, computers, TV set-top boxes, global positioning system devices and gadgets we haven't even dreamt of. Manufacturers will be free to make gadgets that can ride on the network.

Rather than buying a cell phone with a monthly minute plan, you could be buying a device that gives you unlimited use of voice-over-Internet services such as eBay Inc.'s Skype.

"That's the real power of having this open access -- it unleashes innovation," said Bob Williams, who tracks telecommunications for the Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.

For example, Nokia Corp., not Sprint, will be selling the first portable gadget

that's likely to be available for the network. It's a Web tablet that looks like an oversize iPhone and costs about $500.

You'll buy it without a contract, and when the WiMax network is available, the device will tell you. You'll then have the option to sign up for an Internet plan through the Web browser.

There could be quite a few more payment options here than we're used to from wireless providers. We might get the option to buy service by the day, or even by the Web page, which could make viable devices that only occasionally need to connect to the network, such as GPS navigation devices you use only when driving.

And speaking of buying access, you may not be buying it from Sprint, or from the joint venture called Clearwire that will be operating the network. As made clear by the announcement Wednesday, the cable companies that are putting up much of the money for the buildout will be buying wholesale access to the network and will be reselling that under their own brands, bundling it with cable service.

Google Inc., another investor, will also have thumb in the pie: Clearwire will support phones that run Google's Android operating system, which aims to extend the company's dominance in Internet search and advertising to mobile devices.

Clearwire won't be completely revolutionary: Some open network features are available in some form or other today.

For instance, Amazon.com Inc.'s e-book reader, the Kindle, uses Sprint's cellular network to download books, but the user doesn't need to know that. Amazon pays Sprint for access to the network, and no Sprint subscription is necessary. The cost of using the network is included in the price of a book download.

But Amazon had to work with Sprint to create its device, and a company with lesser resources might not be able to follow in its footsteps. For now, there's no competing wireless e-book reader.

In another example of partial openness on existing wireless networks, you can buy a SIM chip from AT&T or T-Mobile USA and plug it into any compatible device, such as a cell phone you bought overseas, to get onto their networks. But the carriers want the customer relationship, so you have to deal with them to get service.