Well, it looks like we've got a merger happening between Nextel and Sprint. I find it disappointing. Despite what they will say in the weeks and months ahead, this merger isn't about improving the customer experience; it's about Nextel sidestepping a very expensive network deployment -- one that could have been more sophisticated than anythng the other carriers had in store.

Instead, Nextel will likely follow Sprint's lead on the EV-DO network. It's a great technology, but Verizon's got the exact same technology plus a head start.

Nextel's Research Triangle deployment using Flarion's gear has been by most accounts a success and the pricing was very aggressive at $35/month. I would like to see a major carrier commit to some seriously high-speed broadband wireless, regardless of what gear they use: Flash-OFDM, WiMAX, whatever. Maybe it will be AT&T (who just partnered with Intel).

Here's an interesting analysis of the situation thus far.