Clearwire, which is majority owned by Sprint, operates the infrastructure for the US 4G WiMax network. The WiMax operator is showing commitment to the WiMax standard for the next-generation 4G network, announcing its own branded 4G smartphones in addition to the Sprint HTC EVO 4G, but Clearwire was also quick to point out that it has re-negotiated its WiMax contract with Intel to give it an early out if necessary. According to Clearwire, it is no longer obligated to WiMax until 2012 and instead can give 30-day notice to switch to another 4G technology should that become more strategic for its business.

According to Clearwire, the move wouldn’t be too drastic–both LTE and WiMax share the same hardware infrastructure and it would be akin to just updating the software to support one technology over the other. According to Clearwire: “We have been saying for a long time that we are a technology-agnostic company that is focused on rolling out WiMax 4G services to 120 million people this year. But we are open minded, and we are studying and watching them. We’ve built an all IP-based network, so we could do it for a modest cost…It’s prudent to take steps so we can execute. Should we need it, it’s there.” Because both WiMax and LTE support orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, a transition would be economically feasible and may not do too much to hamper the 4G progress that Clearwire has made thus far.

Additionally, some are speculating that Clearwire can choose a dual network approach as its nascent 4G network still has enough bandwidth and frequency to support both WiMax and LTE. Such a move can help the company lease out spectrum to other carriers or operators who may want to conduct business as a 4G MVNO. Currently, Sprint and Time Warner Cable are operating their 4G networks on Clearwire’s backbones.

(via: mocoNews)