Clearwire to unify as well as expand WiMAX network
In its Wednesday conference call with investors, Clearwire Corp declared that the company is on target with regard to the June launch of Mobile WiMAX in Atlanta, despite a yet another reshuffling of its management. Earlier, the company had also announced its intention of unifying its three existing systems, as a result of a Clear-Xohm merger this summer.
At present, the three systems that the Kirkland, Washington-based Clearwire operates are incompatible high-speed wireless networks, namely - the Clear-branded WiMAX system in Portland, Oregon; the Xohm-branded system in Baltimore; and a "pre-WiMAX" system in 46 other cities.
In fact, Clearwire's Baltimore network is resold by Sprint, under the name "Sprint 4G." Both the companies have a dual 3G/4G modem for the service, and intend introducing dual-mode phones in the future. Moreover, soon Clearwire's service will also be sold by Time Warner and Comcast.
Elaborating on Clearwire's expansion plans, the company's new CEO William T. Morrow said in a statement: "Our network development work is ramping well as we work toward launching our CLEAR branded mobile broadband services in a number of new markets this year including Atlanta in June, Las Vegas this summer and Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas/Ft. Worth later in the year. We also plan to upgrade our largest existing markets - namely Baltimore, Seattle, Honolulu and Charlotte during 2009."