Sprint and Samsung released a joint press release today that said that the new mobile WiMAX network is ready for its day in the sun. According to the press release, the network has finally passed Sprint’s “rigorous commercial acceptance criteria”. According to the press release, the new network should be ready to go by the end of the year, initially in Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

“This is a major step towards launch readiness and Sprint is extremely pleased with the performance of the mobile WiMAX network and access devices from Samsung,” said Barry West, XOHM president. “The collaboration with Samsung and our other partners has created a WiMAX ecosystem that has now proven that it can deliver this new technology to the marketplace well ahead of any feasible alternative.” -From Press Release

Sprint has been testing their WiMAX network since last year. Starting from the early days in the lab, to this year allowing small scale use of the network by a few lucky individuals. Samsung has already began to supply WiMAX devices, including PC cards. The network was scheduled to cover 100 million people by the end of the year, but according to Sprint they will have to push back on the schedule.