On September 29, Sprint launched XOHM, the 4G wireless network based on the WiMAX technology, and the first hotspot on the USA map that will benefit from it is Baltimore. Sprint’s president of the XOHM business unit Barry West called it a historic day for the telecom industry and consumers at the same time.

XOHM promised to deliver new possibilities for consumers, businesses and local governments to explore interactive communications, high-speed mobile internet browsing, social networking tools, location-centric services and multimedia, at average download speeds of 2-4 Mbps, without long-term commitments, restrictive long-term subsidized plans, and with the most important thing of all: choice.

That all sounds very good, however there is one side to the announcement that consumers, and consumer rights advocates, must take into consideration, and that is the XOHM network management policy, which clearly states that the use of the XOHM services “may not result in excessive burden of system or network resources, may not weaken network performance, and may not restrict, inhibit, interfere with, or degrade any other user’s use of the service.”

And it gets better: XOHM also said that in order to ensure a high-quality experience for all of its subscribers, it will use “various tools and techniques designed to limit the bandwidth available for certain bandwidth intensive applications or protocols, such as file sharing.” Oh wait, did I just read the word “limit?”

That seems like a word neither FCC nor consumer rights advocates would want to hear these days, and perhaps this is not the best way to launch a service, considering the decision the Federal Communications Commission made against Comcast’s interference with Internet traffic.

According to the Free Press organization, which promotes universal access to communication and works on reforming the media, we should be worried about XOHM wireless service’s terms. As Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press said, this is a troubling sign across the industry, which limits consumer access to the legal content and services of their choice.

Furthermore, Scott expressed hope that Sprint will take the necessary steps to disclose the tools and techniques it is planning on using, as well as demonstrate the necessity to maintain a closed network when consumers really want an open Internet.

The alarm signal has been raised, so the big question now is: will XOHM throttle Internet traffic? One thing is clear: Comcast said, and continues to say, it did not block Internet traffic, and that such network management practices are common among Internet service providers. But are they entitled to do that? What about consumers' rights?

While Sprint seemed to be very enthusiastic about the launch, and promised to make the service available on other markets as well, consumer advocates seemed to be quite concerned about the network restrictions on the amount of bandwidth usage. All eyes are on Sprint now, as everyone expects a comment on the matter, or an answer to Free Press’ questions.