"The difficulty with establishing broadband service in a rural market can be summed up by the common saying: "If it were easy, everyone would do it." Rural areas are everything that urban ones are not. No readily available infrastructure exists on which to build an access network. No dense population justifies the cost of adding a new infrastructure and average income levels are less than those of urban households. All this means that two things inhibit the introduction of broadband service in rural areas: high infrastructure costs and low rates of return.

Recessions hurt.

We've previously noted that decision-makers at many of the technology industry's leading corporations seem to have a lot of faith in WiMAX, specifically in Clearwire's (CLWR) United States venture. The catch is that the market does not share their optimism.

Is the global economic outlook getting you down? Does the business section of your local newspaper depress you? Fortunately, there's hope, in the form of a quick Google search: there is plenty of news on WiMAX technology floating around the Internet this week, and most of it positive.

Our first item, from the Washington Business Journal, announces the final merger of Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) with Sprint's (S) WiMAX business, Xohm. If you've had your doubts about the ability of Sprint to pull off a successful WiMAX network, this news might boost your confidence. Clearwire comes to the table with $3.2 billion in investments from a group of heavy-hitters in media and telecommunications, including Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Comcast (CMCSA), Bright House Networks, and Time Warner Cable (TWC).

Now that Sprint's (S) long-awaited Xohm service has launched in Baltimore to mostly positive reviews, researchers, bloggers, and journalists are beginning to place their bets on the upcoming battle between WiMAX and long term evolution ((LTE)), its toughest challenger.

Researchers at In-Stat have struck the first blow for WiMAX, concluding in a new report that WiMAX is likely to "outpace" LTE over the next few years, though both technologies are still years away from full implementation. In-Stat argues that because LTE will not be ready for at least another year or two, the timing of network roll-outs favors WiMAX technology.

Google (GOOG) has announced an aggressive push to bring broadband internet service in to the emerging markets with a strong concentration into Africa.  It’s attempting to launch 16 satellites connecting half of the world. The search engine giant has teamed up with John Malone, the cable giant, and HSBC (HBC), the international bank behemoth, to set up what they are calling O3B Networks. Their mission in what seems to be a clear objective, is to bring an alternative to fiber, given the fact that the financial viability of running fiber throughout the continent is too expensive.

The announcement for ordering up 16 low-earth orbit satellites from the French aerospace company, Thales Alenia, is expected to be the first stage of a 750 million dollar infusion into the project. In addition, there has been a small contribution by Allen & Company, a media advisory firm, of 20 million dollars.

AT&T's (NYSE: T) Apple iPhone and Sprint's (NYSE:S) Instinct touch phone is not the only rivalry brewing between these two foremost cellular networks.

AT&T has been bullying Sprint for a long time now, trying to prevent the Sprint and Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) union from merging both of their assets in order to create a nationwide broadband wireless network.

The Sprint (NYSE:S) - Clearwire (NYSE: CLWR) deal gave Clearwire undeniable credibility in WiMAX development, and the company is moving forward with the technology in a big way. Beta tests are underway in Portland, with "more than 70 percent of [the] WiMAX sites for Portland…in construction or on air." Completion is slated for the end of year, with commercial deployments in that city and 3 others in 2009.

But now they have more than just the hardware; as of July 2nd, Clearwire has leased 3 one-year licenses on the 39 GHz spectrum from IDT Spectrum, 2 of which are in the Oregon-Washington area. You may not have heard much about IDT Spectrum (NYSE: IDT) recently, but expect to hear the name much in the near future; they own spectrums nationwide, mostly in the 28 and 38/39 GHz range. As we come upon the dawning age of wireless, the value of spectrum cannot be understated: you need spectrum to do anything wireless–especially for WiMAX, which is contentionless. (That means it can only operate on licensed spectrum because it is built to assume the air is clear. If it isn't, the equipment just doesn't work! Naturally, some companies are trying to develop equipment to change that, but for now, that is the nature of most WiMAX equipment.) Those who bought spectrum when a majority of it was auctioned off by the FCC in the 80s are finally seeing their investment bear fruit, whether they intend to lease or sell –  remember the 700MHz auction earlier this year, which grossed a total of $19 billion?

AT&T (NYSE: T) Phone Company is once again challenging the imminent merger of Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) with Clearwire (NYSE: CLWR), whose aim is to merge both companies’ WiMax assets in order to create a nationwide broadband wireless network.

This merger would be huge for Wimax, estimating a deal worth 14. 5 billion dollars, and is promising to be a huge success. Just ask Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), all companies who are currently backing this magnanimous merger.