Clearwire Clears WiMax in Portland
Second Market Launch For Mobile Broadband Service Provider Backed By Comcast, Time Warner Cable
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/6/2009 6:08:00 AM
Clearwire Tuesday officially launched WiMax broadband mobile service in Portland, Ore., offering download speeds up to 6 Mbps to customers looking for to replace their cable or DSL connection.
The launch is the second major metro area where WiMax service is available in the U.S. It is also currently available in Baltimore, where Sprint Nextel launched the Xohm-branded service in October. Clearwire said the service will be adopt the Clear brand in the coming months.
Clearwire combined its operations with Sprint’s high-speed wireless business in November, and the new company has received a $3.2 billion cash investment from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Intel and Google. The MSO partners have the option to buy WiMax access services on a wholesale basis from Clearwire.
The Clear service is available in mobile, residential and business plans priced by the day or by the month. Unlike traditional wireless phone plans, Clearwire’s service does not require long-term service contracts.
Home Internet service plans start at $20 per month; mobile Internet plans start at $30 per month; and a one-day pass is $10.
Customers must have a WiMax-enabled modem to access the service; Clearwire sells a USB-based modem for laptops from Motorola for $49.99. A book-size Motorola WiMax modem for home-based Internet access may be leased from Clearwire for $4.99 per month.
According to Clearwire and Intel, in the first half of 2009, PC manufacturers including Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung and Toshiba have announced plans to deliver notebook computers with Intel Centrino 2 processors that have embedded WiMax connectivity.
Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire, in addition to its nascent WiMax services, also provides a proprietary high-speed wireless service in 50 markets across the U.S. and Europe.
