Clearwire trials portable wireless service in Seattle
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(InfoWorld) - The next generation of portable wireless Internet access is available in Seattle through a Clearwire trial service. Clearwire, the wireless broadband operator, has quietly begun selling PC cards and a new service that lets users access the Internet wirelessly around Seattle. Most WiMax services, including Clearwire's in other U.S. and European cities, require larger modems that must be plugged into a power outlet, making it difficult for users to carry the modem to various locations for access. The new PC card lets customers connect to the wireless network easily from laptops at cafes or elsewhere in the coverage area. Anyone can visit a Clearwire store in the Seattle area and sign up for the portable service, said Helen Chung, a Clearwire spokeswoman. After rebates, the PC card, which is made by Motorola, costs $80. Monthly service costs $60 and offers 1.5MbpsÂ download speed. The Clearwire trial service competes with mobile cellular offerings. Verizon Wireless, for example, offers a PC card for mobile data access for $60 per month with an average download speed of 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps. However, Verizon's service prohibits continuous downloading or streaming of audio and video, and some customers have complained of having their accounts cancelled for overuse. As a result, some customers subscribe to such cellular services for mobile use and also subscribe to a wired broadband connection for use in their homes or offices. The Clearwire service doesn't come with any download limits, Chung said, so it could be used as a customer's only broadband connection. The cellular operators have an advantage, however, in that customers can use the services while mobile, such as when traveling on a train or in a car. The current Clearwire service is not designed to support connections while the user is moving. Chung couldn't say how many customers are using the service. She also cautioned that the service is a trial and so it's unclear what it might cost in the future. In May, Clearwire announced that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission had approved a Motorola PC card that the operator planned to use. At the time, Clearwire said the card would be available in its markets during the second half of the year. That same month, Clearwire said that along with Intel and Motorola it had completed a trial of a mobile WiMax service in a Portland, Oregon, suburb. Clearwire said it hoped to make that service available in 2008. Sprint Nextel Corp. is also in the process of building a mobile WiMax network, expected to launch next year. Clearwire currently offers its fixed service in 16 U.S. states as well as five international markets.
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SAN FRANCISCO--Intel and cell phone pioneer Craig McCaw&#39;s latest company, Clearwire, plan to develop and install high-speed networks based on broadband technology commonly referred to as WiMax.
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By M.K. Guetersloh  BLOOMINGTON - Twin City officials would like to see more people wired. Make that wireless.
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Clearwire Corp is expected to float on the US market today, executing its IPO despite last week's market slump. The WiMax service provider is a rare example of a telecom IPO, and clearly hopes to not flame out as badly as the last big one - Vonage.
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Intel is planning to invest heavily in Clearwire, a wireless broadband service provider. The technology at the heart of Clearwire&#39;s service comes from its subsidiary NextNet, which makes a plug
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A startup says it can give subway riders wireless Internet access that&#39;s faster than most home broadband in the U.S.Tests at stations and on a special stretch of track in the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system around San Francisco showed that Wi-Fi Rail&#39;s patent-pending technology delivered more than 15Mbps of wireless throughput to riders and people waiting for trains, the company said. Wi-Fi Rail hopes to roll out such networks on rail systems around the world and charge commuters for access.Commuter rail, with thousands of daily riders, could represent a rich opportunity for public wireless Internet access. Wi-Fi hotspots in airports and coffee shops have drawn some paying users, but the hotspots are useful more for occasional than for regular use. And citywide public Wi-Fi networks, often planned out with local governments, have run into political and business problems.Wi-Fi Rail, founded in 2006 and based near Sacramento, would build two kinds of Wi-Fi networks: one in the cars and one around the tracks, said Michael Cromar, Wi-Fi Rail&#39;s CFO. Passengers would log in to access points on each car, and each car&#39;s network would lock on to one access point after another along the rail system. The trackside access points, in turn, would feed traffic onto fiber-optic lines. Roaming would be handled by the in-car network and be transparent to users, Cromar said.Even better than typical home broadband, the network can deliver its average 15Mbps speed both upstream and downstream, according to Wi-Fi Rail. Passengers would share that link, but in tests, there was no noticeable slowdown between one passenger and eight passengers using the network, Cromar said. The system worked with the trains moving at speeds as high as 65 miles per hour.The company tested its technology in both underground and above-ground parts of the BART system. Above ground, Wi-Fi Rail used standard outdoor access points with line-of-sight antennas to form a link from trains as they went by. In an underground test, the company used &quot;leaky&quot; coaxial cable, a technology some rail systems already use for exchanging operational data with cars, according to Cromar. The leaky cable is deliberately unshielded so signals traveling along it can be picked up all through a tunnel.In-car tests took place on a 2.6-mile BART test track last month, as well as on a stretch of tunnel in San Francisco. Another part of the test proved such a service can draw customers, Cromar said. Wi-Fi Rail set up regular access points in four underground stations in downtown San Francisco and let people waiting for trains register and use the network for free. Without any publicity, more than 6,400 people signed up in less than six months, he said.Although BART hosted the tests, it hasn&#39;t made a deal to have such a network deployed, Cromar said. But Wi-Fi Rail has talked with one interested transit system in the U.S. and is working with a partner to approach a rail system in another country, he said. The company said its technology is ready to go and could be used for anything that follows a predetermined path, including highways.
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Mobile service seamlessly connects PCs to commercial Wi-Fi hotspots and a nationwide 3G wireless network.
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Sprint Nextel Corp.  and Clearwire Corp.  plan to build a U.S. nationwide mobile broadband network using WiMAX technology that will be five times faster than current wireless networks and cost less.
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Clearwire's CEO said Wednesday that the company has been working with Sprint to ensure roaming between the two companies' nationwide WiMax networks.
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Wireless networking startup Meraki plans to deliver free wireless Internet access across San Francisco by the end of the year.
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Clearwire  and Sprint Nextel   have made progress on reaching terms for a roaming deal  for their high-speed wireless networks based on WiMax  technology, Clearwire's Chief Executive said on Wednesday.
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By Tricia Duryee, Seattle Times  Mar. 9--Craig McCaw knows how to raise money.   The wireless entrepreneur did it again this week, reaping $600 million in the public markets for Clearwire, which is building a nationwide wireless broadband network.
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Long-range wireless networking technology draws market interest as low-cost service.
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By Seattle Times  Dec. 19--Clearwire, the wireless broadband provider founded by Craig McCaw, filed plans Today to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering.
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(InfoWorld) - Despite the tribulations of launching a regional wireless Internet network, some cities are making progress by sharing their hard-won lessons. Stung by criticism of high cost, flaky service and pandering to recreational Web surfers, cities can justify their investment in free wireless service by using the networks to support public safety radio traffic, attract new businesses and abolish the "digital divide" that can stop low-income workers from landing Internet-age jobs. That's the message from government technology workers gathered at the MuniWireless 2007 conference in Newton, Massachusetts. Ubiquitous wireless coverage could also improve residents' lives by offering automated traffic monitoring, parking enforcement and meter reading, they said. But sometimes even those goals fail to sustain public support when a network hits surprise hurdles, said Bill Oates, chief information officer for Boston. The city had been running its new Wi-Fi network for a month in the blocks surrounding city hall when citizens began to complain that the Internet service provider used a content filter that blocked certain Web sites. "We will keep hitting bumps in the road, we know that. But sometimes it makes you ask if it's WiMax versus Wi-Fi versus 'Why even try?'," Oates said Tuesday in a conference session. Cities can also face a challenge when the local historical society complains that wireless antennas can harm the architectural appearance of city buildings. City workers in Malden, Massachusetts, found a way around that problem by fitting a Wi-Fi antenna inside the storefront sign of a local bar. The business owner was happy to donate the location in exchange for a strong signal, and the new node boosted coverage in a heavily populated part of town, said Anthony Rodrigues, the city's director of information technology. That example illustrates that the politics of launching a wireless network can be a tougher challenge than the technology, Rodrigues said. It is fairly easy to link the networks in neighboring towns to share coverage areas or fire response, but much harder to persuade elected leaders to talk about funding the effort or agreeing who will control the network. The political hurdle applies far beyond the borders of New England, where the conference is taking place, said Esme Vos, the founder of MuniWireless.com , a blog and sponsor of the conference. Until recently, public wireless networks have existed only in major cities with large budgets, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston and Portland, Oregon, she said. But across the U.S., the number of municipalities with planned or deployed public broadband networks has risen from 122 in July 2005 to 385 in May 2007, according to MuniWireless. The downside of that success has been increased public scrutiny of the investment involved, and demands from some taxpayers that the networks should be financially self-sufficient. That pressure has pushed the industry to consider many new business models, borrowing ideas like the advertising embedded in text messages or commercials that play over cell phones, she said. Others have asked government regulators to force content providers to bundle free wireless access with existing cable television, phone service, wired Internet access, VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and IP television packages. However, Vos is passionate that governments should not insist that municipal Wi-Fi pay for itself, just as they don't require public utilities and paved highways to run at a profit. Governments throughout Europe already support public networks that way, not only in urban centers like Stockholm, Paris, Amsterdam and Milan, but throughout rural regions, she said. In the meantime, municipal technology leaders in the U.S. should continue to hone their skills at expanding coverage and supporting reliable service. "There have been a lot of negative stories in the press recently, saying 'these things don't work'," Vos said. "But people are learning from their mistakes. If you have to use 40 nodes instead of 20 nodes to cover the area, we can learn from that."ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
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Verizon Wireless is including Milwaukee among 14 cities where on-the-go business people can equip their laptops for a new high-speed data service that will be available anywhere in the metro area.
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On Mar. 6, Clearwire, the company headed by wireless pioneer Craig McCaw, is expected to sell shares in what could be one of the most talked about -- and sought-after -- tech initial public offerings of the year.