Joint Sprint, Clearwire network could boost consumer power

Though specifics are scant, everything points to the new network breaking with the current model of the U.S. wireless industry, where carriers both 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, like TV services, that come with the phone.

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

If everything works well, this could lead to a proliferation of cell phones, Web tablets, computers, TV set-top boxes, GPS devices and gadgets we haven't even dreamt of. Manufacturers will be free to make gadgets that can ride on the network, without striking a deal with the carrier first.

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 like 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, the 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, much like a laptop will alert you when Wi-Fi is available. 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, who generally only have monthly data access plans. 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, like GPS navigation devices you use only when driving, or alarm clocks that download a podcast every morning.