Sprint said consumers in Baltimore would be able to use the service for $10 a day or pay $25 a month for home access or $30 a month for mobile service. Sprint also is also offering a $50 a month service for coverage for two WiMax devices, anticipating that consumers owning multiple gadgets will connect to the WiMax network.

However, a public interest group is voicing concerns, saying rules for using the service may throw up obstacles to unrestricted access to the Internet. Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, said XOHM's network management policy includes a clause that allows the company to limit consumers' access to content and applications on the WiMAX network.

"We are very troubled by this development and the larger moves across the wireless industry to limit consumer access to the legal content and services of their choice," Scott said in a statement published on the Free Press Web site. "We hope Sprint will quickly disclose exactly what tools and techniques it plans to use, and demonstrate why it is necessary to maintain a closed network when consumers demands an open Internet."

The issue is important as the Federal Communications Commission recently chastised Comcast for slowing data traffic of Bit Torrent. The FCC seems determined to maintain open access to Internet services.

Nonetheless, Sprint believes XOHM will offer a new range of broadband services. "This is truly an historic day with the birth of a completely new Internet-based business model that alters the dynamics of the traditional telecom industry," Barry West, president of Sprint's XOHM business unit, said in a statement. "Wireless consumers will experience WiMAX device and XOHM service innovation on multiple levels as the computer, Internet, telecom and consumer electronics industries converge to redefine wireless mobility."