Time Warner Cable to resell WiMax service

Time Warner Cable will soon be offering a 4G wireless broadband service using Clearwire's WiMax network.

CEO Glenn Britt told investors during Time Warner Cable's second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that the company will begin reselling wireless service through Clearwire starting this fall in Dallas and Charlotte, N.C.

Clearwire uses a technology called WiMax, which offers faster speeds than current 3G wireless technologies, but offers wider coverage than other high-speed wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi. Clearwire claims that it can provide up to 4 megabits per second for downloads and 500 kilobits per second for uploading, which is more than double what consumers can expect using a 3G wireless connection.

Britt didn't disclose product offerings or pricing, but he said that investors will hear more details about the new service later. But it's likely that Time Warner will bundle the 4G wireless service into its cable modem broadband services.

"We see wireless as complementing wireline," he said.

Time Warner Cable invested in Clearwire in 2008 joining fellow cable company Comcast, as well as tech giants, Google and Intel. The companies contributed a total of $3.2 billion to the new company. Sprint Nextel also invested in the new Clearwire and is allowing it to use its 2.5 GHz wireless spectrum to build the nationwide network.

Clearwire's service is up and running in a few cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Portland, Ore. And the company has plans to roll it out in more markets this year and into 2010.

Comcast has already begun reselling the Clearwire WiMax service, which it calls High-Speed 2go, in Portland and Atlanta. Comcast is offering the service at the promotional price of $49.99 per month for a year.

Sprint Nextel is also reselling the Clearwire WiMax service in certain markets, such as Baltimore. The Sprint service offers laptop users the option of using the 4G WiMax network where it's available and Sprint's 3G wireless network where it's not available.

Clearwire also sells service in every market where it's launched. The service called Clear starts at $20 per month for in-home wireless broadband. And its mobile Internet plans start at $40 per month. Customers can also get a day pass for $10. The company also allows customers to add voice service to their in-home package for $25 per month.

[johnsbrn1]

Any Time Warner customers that have been billed for PPV movies they didn't rent, please post a message here.

[regulator1956]

Not TW, but FIOS did. They even told me the time we ordered and the time we started watching.

We were out to dinner with friends when they said we ordered and asleep during most of the time they said we were watching this boxing match - neither my wife nor I would watch a boxing match.

Since we had never ordered any PPV in the past and I called to complain 6 times, they finally removed the $60 charge. They also removed the ability to ordered PPV via the remote control.

[retnep]

Cost too much...50 bucks is way too much. 50 for home service 50 for wireless...a rip off.

[techie2479]

Awesome. I'm a TW customer in Charlotte and look forward to seeing how they position the WiMax service. To date, I've avoided getting a data plan on my cell phone because I couldn't justify $40 or more per month for shouldn't-be-called-3G service (per my brother's iPhone, AT&T's 3G service BLOWS down here) . If I could add WiMax to my existing cable service for $10 per month or less, I'd be all over it.

[Terenthia]

I just started using Clear's service in Atlanta for $30/month. Its working well so far, and the best part may be that their was no installation. They mailed us a "modem" (WiMax base--not sure what they're called), and it only took plugging it in and pressing one button to get it installed. Far easier than a router, and much better than having to wait around for a serviceman all day.