While Clearwire still isn’t revealing the details of its WiMAX rollout plan, reports Telephony Magazine, CEO of New Clearwire, Ben Wolff, said that will come after the Sprint deal closes. That will probably be after the stockholder meeting on November 20th.
Clearwire’s trial in Portland—its first planned market launch—is now hosting 200 friendly users. In December, Clearwire will begin to allow commercial customers on the network, but unlike Sprint, Clearwire won’t be launching any commercial networks this year.
Portland will commercially launch in the beginning of 2009, followed by Las Vegas, Atlanta and Grand Rapids, Mich., according to Telephony. Sprint has already launched Xohm commercially in Baltimore and has promised to bring Washington, D.C., and Chicago online by the end of the year.
Clearwire also confirmed that it has converted its first fixed broadband wireless network using Motorola’s proprietary NextNet technology to a WiMAX network supporting full mobility. In October, Motorola built a WiMAX overlay in Bellingham, Wash. Clearwire officials said that project was more for planning and engineering purposes rather than commercial migration, but the Bellingham transition will serve as the template for converting to WiMAX the dozens of US markets in which Clearwire already has NextNet gear.
Clearwire currently has 14 million points of presence (POPs) in the NextNet footprint, and the four WiMAX markets under construction cover an additional 6 million.
Related WiMax stories on Dailywireless include; Xohm Marks the Spot, Chicago Xohmed Next?, WiMAX Doomed? Not., Mobile WiMAX: Fast, Cheap and Out of Control?, Mobile Data: Replacing Landline Broadband?, AT&T: No “Special Rights” for Clearwire, WiMAX Roundup, Cisco & Fujitsu Beamform Live Video, Motorola: People Get Ready, Barry West Talks, Intel + India’s BSNL = 100m WiMaxers, XOHM to Launch with Location Services, Denver Gets Fixed WiMAX and Clearwire: Retrofits Come First.
