The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
Clearwire launches Rover pay-as-you-go 4G service
The pay-as-you-go 4G wireless broadband service targets 18- to 24-year-olds. Sans contract, customers can get unlimited data usage for just $5 per day, $20 per week, or $50 a month.
Clearwire's Rover Puck offers Wi-Fi connectivity for up to eight users over its 4G wireless connection.
(Credit: Screenshot by Zoe Slocum/CNET)Clearwire announced a new pay-as-you-go brand for its 4G wireless service on Monday.
The new brand is targeting 18- to 24-year-olds who are recently out of college, urban, and looking to stay connected. The service will not require a contract, and customers can sign up for unlimited data usage for just $5 per day, $20 per week, or $50 a month.
The Rover Puck will offer download speeds of 3Mbps to 6Mbps. The Puck is available for $150. And the Rover Stick is $100 and will work on MacBooks using Mac OS X, as well as Netbooks and laptops using Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. It also offers the same download speeds of between 3Mbps and 6Mbps.
The new pay-as-you-go brand will be available in Clearwire's 49 markets. It can be bought at Rover.com or at Clear and Best Buy stores, along with some select independent wireless dealers in Houston and St. Louis.
Mike Sievert, chief commercial officer at Clearwire, said on a conference call that the pay-as-you-go service will not be available to its reseller partners and investors, such as Sprint Nextel, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable. These companies are investors in Clearwire, and they also resell Clearwire's 4G wireless service under their own brands.
