Service provider Clearwire Corp. offers 4G wireless connections via mobile WiMax to 1.7 million potential subscribers in Portland Ore. The "Clear wireless network" launched this week includes over 300 cellphone towers equipped with WiMax basestations which cover most of the Portland metropolitan area. Subscribers would pay $20 to $50 per month for access to wireless broadband via USB modems for mobile users or using a WiMax-enabled Ethernet router.
BOTTOM LINE: WiMAX has a two year head start on the mobile phone carrier's preferred voice-over-IP solution called LTE (Long Term Evolution) that leverages existing 3G cellular network infrastructure, but which will not be widely available until 2011. The speed at which WiMAX is adopted, and the availability of WiMAX-enabled handsets, will determine whether LTE and WiMAX coexist or obsolete one of the other.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212701149
Audio: http://homepage.mac.com/guitarmedia/interviews/rcjClear-09-01-07.mp3
Video: WiMAX Deployed in Portland Ore.
Video: Clear Demos WiMAX Modems
Video: Video Chat with Portland Mayor
