Clearwire to bring WiMax to 10 more markets

Clearwire, which is using Sprint Nextel's 2.5GHz spectrum to build a nationwide 4G wireless network, announced Monday 10 more markets that will get the company's Clear WiMax wireless broadband services starting September 1.

Eight of the newly announced cities are in Texas: Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Killeen/Temple, Waco, and Wichita Falls. The other two markets are Boise, Idaho, and Bellingham, Wash.

These 10 markets will join four other officially launched WiMax markets: Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Portland, Ore.

Some of the additional markets planned to launch in 2009 include Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas/Ft. Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia, and Seattle.

Clearwire says it's on track to launch 80 markets by the end of 2010. In 2010, it plans to roll out service in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston, and the San Francisco Bay Area among others.

It's important for Clearwire to launch more markets, especially in major cities where its joint venture partners can also resell the service. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks have each invested in Clearwire, along with Google and Intel. Altogether the companies pitched in $3.2 billion. Comcast and Time Warner Cable have already announced plans to start reselling the WiMax service in areas where they offer cable service. These cable companies plan to bundle the 4G wireless broadband service with their existing high-speed broadband services.

Sprint Nextel, another major Clearwire partner, is also reselling the service combined with its 3G wireless service in some markets, such as Baltimore.

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.

The Clear WiMax service from Clearwire 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.

[slickuser]

This puts lot of pressure on LATE (oops thats LTE) backed companies such as verizon

[gerrrg]

Land so flat, WiMax works perfectly in Texas.

[terminalblue]

i dont mean to sound snide, but so what. I had really high hopes for wimax three years ago, when 4mbs was pretty good for cable speed and there wasnt free wifi every where. but now the service and the tech seems largely outdated or redundant.

I am not trying to trash wimax, but in pretty average situations a cdma/gsm modem can hit 2mbs (with a usually pitiful 10kps upstream) but for most mobile tasks that is good enough. I am able to travel from st. louis, mo to chicago, il with high sprint data through sprint for about 90% of the trip and 1xrtt for the remaining 10%. it just seems that unless wimax can offer something that upcoming GSM equipment isnt going to offer then its just going to create a more cluttered market place.

I just dont understand how wimax is going to compete at its current service rates.

[strangethingintheland]

You may be right that it will be a tough long-term road to profitability for Clear. However, I am happy for the pricing pressure it could help to bring. For example, they currently offer an early-adopter's special where you can get 2 unlimited mobile broadband accounts for $55/month guaranteed for life (obviously, after a few years that won't be a competitive price, but it's not bad for right now). With skype/truphone on the ipod touch and a mifi-class device, that's cell service + unlimited data service for $27.50/month. That's pretty remarkable. Obviously, they don't have the national footprint yet, and there are other caveats as well, but the pricing difference is dramatic.

[EmbSysPro]

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING CLEARWIRE, PLEASE!, PLEASE! PLEASE! CHECKOUT WWW.CLEARWIRESUCKS.COM.

[Bruce145]

I"m still sort of amazed at how this 'isn't' a pretty blatant violation of anti-trust laws? The biggest cable companies in the country pitching in billions to make inroads in additional markets? But not step on each others' toes in the process? Now in FL we're used to this sort of thing from Brighthouse, who all except for Verizon (http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/may/31/bz-verizon-focusing-on-service/news-money/) has pretty much stamped out all other competition...but what about the rest of the country? Is the Obama administration going to step up and do anything about this??

[sethshoultes]

I can't wait for my Verizon contract to expire so I can get on Sprints network. Don't get me wrong about Verizon. Their customer service is outstanding (IMO) and i have had a very good experience with them overall.

Their mobile broadband service plans are outrageous. They charge $60 a month for up to 5GB of bandwidth or $40 a month for up to 50MB of bandwidth! What a rip-off compared to Sprints unlimited mobile broadband service plans for $60 a month.

[basraw]

umm,don't you pay for overage on spring 3g?

4g/wimax has no overage though. it just appears you can't get enough bandwidth to do anything on it.. lol

[clynx]

Everything here in America is about what is coming. But it never gets anywhere but a few places. We own the spectrum, take them and give them to someone who will actually do something. Oh and by the way, "data caps are censorship".

[libertyforall1776]

WiMax deployment is too slow to head off LTE, IMHO. Also, Sprint Nextel has not implemented PTT across their entire line of phones, which means the Nextel acquisition was a joke. :-( The Pre should have had Push To Talk from day 1!!!

[Michael_Fizey]

I'd definitely like to get 4G connections on the go, but I'm not sure how sound of a business decision this whole Clearwire saga has been. The big cable companies involved like Bright House have a history of poor investments - I just really hope they don't pass the losses down to their consumers... but I wouldn't put it past them!