Chicago (IL) – If we believe Clearwire’s website, then WiMax service is already available in 53 different markets across the U.S. However, that may be rather unofficial, since we today learned that the Clear 4G service is really only available in four markets, and ten will be added on September 1. 66 more will follow by the end of 2010.
The “official” ten new markets are Boise, Bellingham and eight markets throughout Texas, including Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Killeen/Temple, Waco and Wichita Falls will occur on. Customers in these areas can activate the service now, Clearwire said.
WiMax is rolled out much slower than initially expected and faces criticism that it is not as widely available as 3G cellphone data services. However, WiMax proponents claim that the technology will attract new customers as 3G networks are struggling with bandwidth problems.
Clearwire said that it will be covering 80 markets and a population of 120 million people in the U.S. 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.
Residential WiMax plans are separated into several tiers that offer download speeds of 768 Mbps, 1.5 Mbps or 2.0 Mbps.
Prices range, depending on the choice of speed and the number of provided email accounts from $20 to $50 per month for a broadband connection at home to $50 per month mobile broadband access and $70 per month for home and mobile WiMax service (2-year service contract required).
