10/22, 7:40pm
Companies claim up to 10X faster speed than 3G
Clearwire and Sprint have announced their latest 4G deployment plans that will bring the faster data service to cities in the continental US and the Hawaiian islands. Fulfilling earlier promises, locations scheduled for November launch include Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh, North Carolina; Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas. Honolulu and Maui residents will be able to utilize the upgraded network beginning in December.
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10/09, 3:20pm
Intel deal forces Clearwire to stay WiMAX
National 4G provider Clearwire is bound to keep using WiMAX for its network until at least 2011, an SEC filing discovered this week has found. The carrier is now known to have struck a deal with Intel that requires it use WiMAX for at least the next two years in exchange for marketing help from the chipmaker. Clearwire also has to share revenue whenever the subscriber's device is Intel-based as well as pay a limited number of activation fees.
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10/07, 5:20pm
Samsung kicks off Mobile WiMAX Release 2
Samsung at an ITU trade show late yesterday provided an initial look at second-generation WiMAX service. Known alternately as Mobile WiMAX Release 2 or 802.16m, the technology borrows multiple-in, multiple-out technology from modern Wi-Fi as well as makes better use of available wireless spectrum. The union should result in speeds about four times faster than current WiMAX networks.
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09/25, 3:35pm
FCC sets Oct. 23rd deadline for spectrum feedback
As part of its ongoing attempt to expand the wireless spectrum for its national broadband plan, the FCC has now opened comments to the public asking whether the so-called "prime bands" below 3.7GHz, considered ideal for wireless data and video, are sufficient for the near- and long-term demands of wireless broadband. The FCC seeks to get information from industry players by October 23rd regarding the ability of the current spectrum to support future build-outs and which bands are best suited for mobile or fixed wireless broadband.
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09/18, 3:05pm
Sprint 4G WiMax in Chicago on Oct. 6th
Sprint will sell its 4G WiMAX mobile broadband service to Chicago residents starting on October 6th, when it will officially be announced during a press event. A Friday story from BBR maintains Sprint has been sending out invitations to members of the press for the event, where it will demonstrate the network's speeds in addition to formally launching the network.
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09/16, 5:00pm
Comcast to offer TV cellphone, 4G services
Cable provider Comcast on Wednesday announced it would offer its subscribers a service that would allow them to view TV shows on their cellphones. The shows will be delivered via a wireless Internet service, which would require Comcast to provide a voice service and compete with the likes of AT&T and Verizon. Comcast has recently rolled out WiMAX wireless Internet services in certain large US cities under a joint venture with Clearwire.
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09/14, 5:15pm
Clearwire begins plans for global WiMAX roaming
Clearwire Communications on Monday announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with WiMAX operators UQ Communications of Japan and Yota of Russia to allow international roaming. This would involve the three parties collaborating on business and technical aspects, as well as other WiMAX operators and Clearwire's Global Alliance Partner Program members.
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08/03, 3:50pm
Clearwire 4G launch
Clearwire has announced that it is set to launch its 4G WiMAX service in ten new markets spread across Idaho, Washington and Texas beginning September 1st. The company's mobile Internet network is currently available in four locations including Atlanta; Baltimore, Las Vegas and Portland, Oregon.
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07/30, 10:30am
Time Warner Cable WiMAX
Time Warner Cable has recently reported its earnings for the second quarter, which revealed an unexpected increase in profit of about 4 percent. At the same time, the cable company's CEO, Glenn Britt, told attendees that mobile WiMAX is coming soon from the provider. Britt promised more details are forthcoming, but went on record to say that a mobile broadband network will be released in the fall, naming Charlotte and Dallas as the first cities to get it. Time Warner was an early investor in Clearwire's WiMAX network, along with rival Comcast, and is therefore authorized to resell the service.
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07/21, 4:35pm
Sprint to add 4G markets
Wireless provider Sprint on Tuesday announced that it will launch its WiMAX mobile broadband service concurrently in Atlanta, GA, Portland, OR and Las Vegas, NV starting in August. Sprint says the new generation network will allow users to access data between three and five times faster than current 3G networks, with peak download speeds faster than 10Mbps, and averages of between 3 and 6Mbps.
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07/21, 11:05am
CLEAR Vegas and Sam Mondi
Clearwire had a two-pronged launch on Tuesday with news both of its CLEAR WiMAX service reaching Las Vegas as well as the availability of the Samsung Mondi for its network and othe device news. The 4G-level service debuts on the 21st and will give the desert city typical download speeds between 3Mbps and 6Mbps, rendering it suited to video streaming and other broadband tasks on the road. Plans start at $20 for fixed service at home or $30 for mobile use anywhere in CLEAR's coverage areas. The company also has a $45 fixed-and-mobile plan for those who need two connections as well as a $10 day pass for visitors.
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06/29, 3:35pm
Comcast High Speed 2Go
Comcast on Monday marked the launch of its own 4G Internet access in the form of High-Speed 2go [currently a sign-in page]. The service depends on Clearwire's WiMAX network and supplies peak real-world speeds of about 4Mbps downstream anywhere within the coverage range. Like service from Clearwire or Sprint, it's not locked to a particular location and can be had either for mobile use or else as a fixed install at home.
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06/16, 1:15pm
Clearwire 4G in Atlanta
Clearwire on Tuesday officially released its 4G WiMAX wireless broadband network in Atlanta, making it the largest city in the US to offer the service. The service, CLEAR, is available to about three million people in a 1,200-square mile area, offering users DSL-like cable speeds wherever they are, wirelessly. Running on a WiMAX radio system from Motorola, the service is said to deliver realistic download speeds between 4 and 6Mbps, with burst speeds greater than 15Mbps. In comparison, existing 3G networks provide download speeds between 1 and 1.7Mbps.
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06/10, 12:35pm
Clearwire WiMax in Vegas
Internet provider Clearwire has recently began offering its high-speed mobile WiMAX services in Las Vegas, before it performs an official, full commercial launch later this summer. Residents of the Nevada city can now order it online, even before storefronts and ads are built and placed. This is the third city Clearwire has launched WiMAX in, following Atlanta, and Portland, Oregon releases earlier this year.
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05/06, 8:25am
Dell WiMAX Studio Notebook
Dell this morning said it had added a WiMAX choice for three of its higher-end home notebooks. The Studio 15, Studio 17 and Studio XPS 16 will all have a $60 or less upgrade that offers 4G speeds on either the Clearwire or Sprint 4G networks in Atlanta, Baltimore and Portland. In peak conditions, this lets the portables connect at up to 13Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream. Typical speeds are still faster than 3G with downloads between 2Mbps and 4Mbps.
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05/01, 4:20pm
Court allows iPCS lawsuit
iPCS, an affiliate of Sprint, announced on Friday that the Cook County Circuit Court has denied Sprint's motion to dismiss parts of iPCS's lawsuit against Sprint for violating its exclusivity agreement with iPCS. Back in May of 2008, Sprint and Clearwire formed a partnership that would see the joint company provide access to the next-generation 4G WiMAX network to its customers. iPCS' lawsuit aims to block Sprint from receiving benefits from its Clearwire deal unless it shares these benefits with its affiliates.
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04/02, 10:35pm
Clearwire
Clearwire at CTIA launched the Spot, a personal hotspot device that connects to the company's WiMAX network and provides Internet via Wi-Fi. The 3-inch by 5-inch router is manufactured by CradlePoint and matches the appearance of the PHS300. Users must insert a CLEAR USB modem into the port on the side of the router. The Spot contains a lithium ion battery that powers the USB modem.
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03/25, 10:20am
Sprint WiMAX Rollouts 2009
Sprint today outlined its expansion plans for its WiMAX 4G service for the next year as well as some early hints of its 2010 plans. The carrier now hopes to launch its wide-area wireless in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle at varying points throughout the year. It has also pushed back its originally planned Washington DC introduction to 2010 and expects to reserve other major cities for service next year, including Boston, Houston, New York and San Francisco.
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01/14, 10:00am
Clearwire WiMax router
After the official launch of the Clearwire WiMAX service in Portland, the company's chief strategy officer announced plans and showed a prototype of a portable WiMAX/Wi-Fi router that enables access to the 4G mobile broadband network from Wi-Fi enabled devices. The pre-production version of the router uses a Motorola WiMAX USB stick and will allow multiple users to connect through it. Richardson foresees every iPhone user opting to use the Clearwire router for faster data speeds than the device's built-in 3G access.
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12/05, 4:45pm
Sprint CDMA, WiMAX phones
Wireless provider Sprint Nextel will offer handsets that can switch from the existing CDMA network to the WiMAX mobile broadband network currently being built up across the United States by Sprint's recent partner, Clearwire. Apart from the handsets, Sprint will carry other WiMAX products and services, including the first hybrid CDMA/mobile WiMAX modem. All will be branded as Sprint 4G, replacing the existing Xohm brand name for the existing high-speed mobile broadband gear.
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12/01, 2:25pm
Clearwire WiMAX as Clear
Clearwire today said its recently completed deal with Sprint for WiMAX will use the "Clear" name on its own side of the network rather than use Sprint's Xohm naming scheme. Worth about $14.5 billion, the agreement will effectively replace Xohm on Clearwire's portion of the network rather than see the two provide a united naming scheme.
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11/21, 4:15pm
MSI Wind U120
MSI in a late weekday announcement announced its long-promised US version of the Wind U120. The update to has the same features of higher-spec U100 models with a 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of memory, a six-cell battery and a 160GB hard drive but brings in a sleeker design and the option of either 3G cellular Internet access over HSPA or WiMAX for 4G-grade access over networks from Clearwire or Sprint.
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11/20, 4:45pm
Clearwire Sprint deal a go
A merger between telecommunications companies Sprint and Clearwire announced back in May could be completed before year's end, as Clearwire's shareholders have approved the deal today, according to a Thursday report. Earlier this month, the FCC approved the merger as well, bringing the $14.6 billion venture one step closer to completion. The new company, also called Clearwire, will work on developing a mobile network based on WiMAX technology that promises wireless data transfer rates faster than any current network, approaching wired broadband speeds.
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11/05, 2:10pm
Sprint Clearwire Approved
The FCC late yesterday approved Sprint's deal with Clearwire for a national WiMAX network. The deal will allow the two to spread an effectively unified 4G wireless Internet service across the US that should cover as many as 140 million users by the end of 2010. FCC Commissioners, including Chairman Kevin Martin, describe the approval in historic terms and suggest it will create a genuine new competitor for high-speed Internet access in the US.
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10/13, 9:05am
iPods and Mac WiMAX Rumor
Apple is giving both its iPods and MacBooks wide-area wireless in South Korea, a statement reads. The American company has signed a memorandum of understanding with major telecoms provider KT Corp to bundle KT's WiBro (WiMAX in Korea) mobile broadband service with Apple's portable music players and notebooks. Neither firm is specific on details, though the iPod touch and similar devices would require built-in hardware to support the feature where MacBooks could use USB or ExpressCard adapters depending on the model.
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05/19, 7:10am
ASUS Eee PC Drops WiMAX
ASUS is dropping WiMAX as a stock feature of the Eee PC 901, those inside the PC industry reportedly claim. Where ASUS had once promised that the 4G wireless service would be standard on at least one model, the company is now reportedly convinced that WiMAX, particularly through Clearwire and Sprint in the US, won't have enough coverage in 2008 for the feature to be worth inclusion. The addition will only be available through contract orders, says the report.
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05/15, 2:05pm
Alltel to Use LTE for 4G
Alltel will use Long Term Evolution (LTE) for its next-generation phone network, according to statements made during a conference call discussing the provider's latest financial results. Company chief Scott Ford explained that the technology is Alltel's pick and that LTE will have a "significant" installed base for the company's cellular network within the next three to five years. Ford doesn't say when Alltel will start its rollout, but notes that there is no short-term budget and that nothing will be underway until at least 2009.
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05/14, 8:45am
ATT 20Mbps 3G in 2009
AT&T's cellular Internet access will be more than five times faster in 2009 than it is this year, the company's mobility chief Ralph de la Vega said today at Morgan Stanley's annual Communications Conference. The executive says that the company's HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network will be improved from the theoretical peak downloads of 3.6 megabits per second common across most of the network today to about 20 megabits per second in 2009.
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05/12, 7:55am
Sprint Q1 2008 Results
Sprint this morning reported its results for the first quarter of 2008 and has revealed continued severe losses in its cellular business. The carrier says its net revenue declined nine percent year-over-year to $9.3 billion and that it lost a total 1.09 million wireless customers in the most recent period. The company says the poor results were "expected" but that it's continuing to rework its strategy, including more focused advertising, cost reductions, and larger strategic decisions. Its news last week of a team-up with Clearwire for nationwide WiMAX also points to a turnaround, according to the company.
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05/07, 8:00am
Clearwire Formation
Sprint and Clearwire today announced the unification of their two WiMAX Internet services into a single company that they hope will drive the 4G wireless standard. Simply titled Clearwire, the business will share the services of both the old Clearwire and Sprint's Xohm network in a single national WiMAX provider and is said to help promote the concept of an open wireless standard that allows any device and software to run; the combined build-out of the two should cover between 120 and 140 million Americans by the end of 2010, the involved companies say.
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05/06, 6:25pm
Sprint nears deal on WiMax
Sprint is nearing closure on a $12 billion joint venture with Clearwire, backed by industry giants such as Intel, Google, Time Warner, and Comcast, among others. The Wall Street Journal reveals that Sprint would merge its wireless broadband services with Clearwire, after raising a total of $3.2 billion from the aforementioned technology and wireless firms, of which the final approval was given Tuesday. The announcement could come as soon as Wednesday, according to insiders.
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05/05, 4:30pm
Sprint Mulls Nextel Sale
Sprint is strongly considering selling off its Nextel division after just three years folded into the company, the Wall Street Journal says while crediting anonymous sources. One of Nextel's founders, Morgan O'Brien, is purportedly creating a group of investors that would buy out the push-to-talk group and restore its place as a separate company. Other private companies are also an option, as is a spin-off similar to the landline Internet provider Embarq.
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03/25, 3:20pm
Gartner: WiMAX good to go
Buzz Broadband's failed WiMAX test should not in any way be taken as a sign of problems with the standard, claims the research group Gartner. The firm's VP, Ian Keene, observes that tests have been proceeding well in a number of areas around the globe, including Asia, Europe, North America and even Africa. In fact, says Keene, "we are seeing those networks expanding as conformance-tested products become available."
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02/29, 12:55pm
Sprint dual-mode WiMAX
Sprint and Clearwire are still discussing their potential WiMAX network collaboration, according to Sprint's new CEO. Dan Hesse addressed the topic in the company's most recent earnings call, but would not elaborate on proposals from either side of the negotations. “We have had wide ranging discussions with Clearwire on potential relationships," explained Hesse, "but no final agreements have been reached."
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02/18, 12:50pm
Sprint, Clearwire & Intel
Having just confirmed new negotiations last month, Sprint and Clearwire may already be nearing a deal to merge the companies' WiMAX networks. Market publication The Street quotes anonymous sources, who say that the two are planning to start a spin-off firm with licenses for both Sprint and Clearwire's spectrums. An announcement could come as soon as this week, the sources suggest.
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01/30, 2:50pm
Clearwire in WiMAX talks
Clearwire has indeed resumed talking with Sprint about merging the two companies' WiMAX networks, Reuters reports. The information comes directly from Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff, who says that negotations are not only active, but have made progress. The companies are also said to be collaborating in areas beyond merging, though Wolff is refusing to elaborate on details. He has also declined to comment on whether Sprint and Clearwire's WiMAX assets would be merged with outside investments, as suggested by the Wall Street Journal.
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01/29, 3:20pm
Sprint Clearwire WiMAX
Both Sprint and Clearwire are back to discussing a previously-ended deal that would see a shared WiMAX effort, according to people speaking with the Wall Street Journal. In spite of ending talks just last year after failing to come to an agreement, both companies are reportedly once again prepared to explore a deal that would let customers of either Clearwire or Sprint roam on each other's WiMAX networks, saving both companies from having to build out an entire national network themselves. The new strategy would see Sprint's WiMAX service, named Xohm, spun off as a separate entity and merged with Clearwire to create a single, unified service.
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12/05, 4:20pm
700MHz Bidder Slip
Some additional bidders in the FCC's auction for the 700MHz band have been revealed, according to filings and public revelations. In addition to confirmed bids by cable provider Cox and open access advocate Google, Leap Wireless (which owns the cellular provider Cricket) has submitted an SEC filing indicating that it use a subsidiary to participate in the auction. A partly-connected firm known as Denali Spectrum License will also join in, Leap notes.
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