FiberTower announced that it had entered into an agreement with Sprint Nextel to provide backhaul services in seven of the wireless carrier's initial WiMAX launch markets. FiberTower and Sprint did not disclose terms of the deal.

"We are extremely pleased and excited to have been selected by Sprint Nextel to be the first backhaul provider to deploy commercial Ethernet services," said Michael Gallagher, FiberTower's president and CEO, in a statement. "We place significant value in our relationship with Sprint Nextel and believe that this historic agreement represents the first step in the carrier's commitment to deploying cutting-edge broadband applications with broad appeal to consumers and the enterprise."

FiberTower's hybrid network architecture, consisting of microwave and fiber technologies, promises to provide backhaul transport that is highly reliable, cost-effective and scalable.