WiMAX provider Clearwire today announced they’ll launch Mobile WiMAX in ten markets on September 1, 2009, with service in Boise, Idaho; Bellingham, Wash.; and eight markets throughout Texas, including: Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Killeen/Temple, Waco and Wichita Falls. Customers in these new markets can activate service now via clear.com.
Clearwire’s 4G network is now available in four markets; in Atlanta; Baltimore; Las Vegas and Portland, Oregon. The company plans to bring CLEAR to 80 markets covering up to 120 million people by the end of 2010.
Some of the additional markets planned to launch in 2009 include Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia and Seattle. In 2010, Clearwire plans to launch 4G service in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston and the San Francisco Bay Area among others.
A screenshot from Sprint’s Sales Portal shows the above roadmap for its WiMAX rollout, including 4th quarter rollouts for Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Charlotte.
The Kirkland, Wash.-based operator said they have doubled the upload speed to 1 Mbit/s for no additional cost. Downlink speeds will remain the same at “3 to 6 Mbit/s.
“Customers will begin to see the faster speeds beginning Saturday,” the spokesman notes. “The change will be automatic, and no action is required on the customer’s part.”
I’m not seeing much improvement yet. I checked my Portland, Oregon connection this morning (above), using Speakeasy’s Speedtest and found no apparent change.
I subscribe to two unlimited 6 Mbps services, using both a USB and residential modem (which I tested this morning). My Clear Mobile WiMAX service generally delivers 3-6 Mbps downloads with 400-500 Kbps uploads around town. The cost for both services combined is $55/month, with modem rental another $10/mo.
