It always seems that new technologies end up fighting it out in a format war. We first saw it in the VHS versus Betamax war. Then we saw the Blu-ray versus HD DVD fight, and now we have a war brewing between WiMax and LTE to become the 4G mobile data service of choice.

Clearwire and Sprint are betting on WiMax as the service of choice and went with WiMax because it could (theoretically) be deployed faster. The poor financial condition of Sprint and other roadblocks have so far prevented any widespread rollout of WiMax with Clearwire or Sprint.

At the same time, Verizon maintains it will roll out its LTE 4G networks in late 2009 and early 2010. WiMax is being rolled out to one more city in America with Atlanta getting WiMax to make what is being called the largest Internet hotspot in America.

The WiMax installation covers about 1200 square miles, but has a few holes that prevent uniform coverage around the entire city. Another catch is that there are currently no smartphones that can use WiMax in the US and to get the service on a PC costs about $50 per month plus the cost of the modem. WiMax looks more like a big bag of fail every day.

[via AJC]