Clearwire unwires Seattle, WiMAX gains steam

KIRKLAND, Wash.-Fixed wireless Internet service provider Clearwire Corp. is pulling out all the stops as it launches services in its hometown of Seattle. The Craig McCaw-backed wireless ISP said more than two million people are now eligible to subscribe to its service in the Seattle market, and the company is kicking things off with a laser light show at Seattle’s Space Needle.
The Seattle launch brings Clearwire’s high-speed Internet service deployments to 31 markets, covering more than 8 million potential subscribers and currently serving about 162,000 actual subscribers. Clearwire controls between 12 and 198 MHz of spectrum in markets covering 210 million potential customers across the country. The company’s service uses a proprietary, pre-WiMAX technology and offers an alternative to DSL and cable connections.
Interestingly, Clearwire recently launched a mobile WiMAX trial in Oregon. Depending on the level of success Clearwire experiences during its mobile WiMAX trial, the ISP could shift into the mobile wireless arena offering voice, data and video using mobile WiMAX technology.
“Our goal has always been to look at the wants and needs that people have in ways the major carriers didn’t have interest or time to pursue,” commented Craig McCaw, chairman and chief executive officer at Clearwire. “Clearwire is delivering on this goal by providing services that are differentiated from everything else that is currently available. We are seeing the same phenomenon today that we saw in cellular more than 20 years ago-people like the idea of not being tied to a specific location by a cable in order to communicate and access information.”
Analysts note that WiMAX equipment is all but flying off the shelves.
In-Stat reported that WiMAX gear is on the move thanks to the availability of WiMAX Forum-certified equipment. The firm estimates worldwide WiMAX subscribers will reach 222,000 customers this year and will grow to 19.7 million users by the end of 2010. With the exception of South Korea, In-Stat says most subscribers will use a fixed WiMAX service.
However, In-Stat analyst Daryl Schooler pointed out that WiMAX faces many challenges, most notably from competing technologies and services.
“WiMAX will have difficulty competing in areas that already have established broadband services,” said Schooler. “WiMAX will need to provide a demonstratively superior service to win customers from the incumbent provider. Much of WiMAX’s early success will come from under-developed regions of the globe.”
In-Stat said that, other than Sprint Nextel Corp., it doesn’t expect established carriers to deploy WiMAX in the near term. In-Stat said continued regulatory uncertainty and spectrum availability will serve to hamper the growth of the technology.
Nevertheless, In-Stat said sales of 802.16e equipment-also known as mobile WiMAX-will quickly overtake those of 802.16d-fixed WiMAX. The firm said Alvarion Ltd. led vendors with the largest share of WiMAX equipment revenue during the first half of this year.