Clearwire launches Rover prepaid offering

UPDATED: Clearwire Corp. broadened its marketing reach today with the launch of its prepaid Rover offering that the WiMAX network operator said was targeting the 18 to 24 year old segment, also known as Generation Y.
The service provides for daily, weekly or monthly, unlimited usage from the carrier’s WiMAX network at price points of $5, $20 and $50, with all taxes and fees included. No contract is required and top up can be accomplished online or with top-up cards.
Initial devices for the offering will include a USB modem priced at $100, or a “Puck” that will allow for up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to connect to the carrier’s network for $150.
The service will be available throughout the carrier’s markets via its website, or initially in retail locations in Houston and St. Louis. The carrier said it expects to expand the retail presence in the coming months.
While Clearwire frequently mentioned the appeal of the offering to Gen. Y, others noted that the pricing and device offering could appeal to a broader range of customers.
“Pay-as-you-go broadband could appeal to anyone that needs Internet access outside of their regular connection points,” said Dan Hays, partner at global management consulting firm PRTM. “I am sure they are going in expecting to target a specific market, but often for these services you just don’t know which market an offering is going to resonate with. I expect Rover to appeal to a broader segment.”
Clearwire earlier this month launched its iSpot mobile broadband device that allows up to eight Wi-Fi equipped Apple Inc. products to connect to the carrier’s WiMAX service. The device is priced at $100 and the no-contract service runs $25 per month for unlimited access.
The Rover launch continues a broader industry push in the mobile space behind prepaid, broadband offerings. Virgin Mobile USA last week started offering unlimited data service using Sprint Nextel Corp.’s CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network at $40 per month. That offering also includes a USB modem at $100 and a mobile hot spot device that allows up to five Wi-Fi devices to connect to the 3G network for $150.
(In addition to owning Virgin Mobile USA, Sprint Nextel also has a controlling stake in Clearwire.)
The Virgin Mobile USA offering also includes an entry-level plan that provides 100 megabytes of data transmission for $10 per week. Clearwire said it went the daily/weekly route instead of a megabyte cap so consumers would not have to worry about counting usage.
With the Rover service priced at a $10 premium compared with Virgin Mobile USA’s 3G offering and Sprint Nextel charging customers a $10 “Premium Data add-on” for customers selecting one of its WiMAX-enabled smart phones, Hays noted the carrier was looking to maintain the pricing premium for its “4G” service.
Hays noted the Rover launch made sense for Clearwire as the company looks to expand its marketing presence ahead of planned LTE launches set for later this year.
“I do suspect a lot of this is in anticipating the launch of LTE networks in the U.S., specifically those from MetroPCS [Communications Inc.] and Verizon [Wireless],” explained Hays. “It’s an important evolution for Clearwire, but not necessarily a revolution.”
Hays did add that of perhaps more important to Clearwire in the short term is the planned expansion of its network. The carrier noted that its service was currently available in 49 markets covering around 56 million potential customers with plans to cover 120 million pops by the end of the year.
“Right now it’s a race to the top for 4G coverage,” Hays said. “For Clearwire it has to be a top priority to get more markets launched.”
Clearwire recently announced that it ended the second quarter of this year with 1.7 million customers, with the company noting with the Rover launch that it now served more than 2 million customers.