Clearwire Racing Toward 4G Rollouts To Beat Rivals

Clearwire says it remains on track to launch its Clear-branded WiMAX 4G service in Atlanta next month, with Las Vegas slated for a late summer launch and Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas/Fort Worth scheduled for rollouts later in the year.

"We have been readying Atlanta distribution channels, building up six retail outlets, hiring and training sales teams, and engaging national players, including Best Buy and Radio Shack," and have "many local indirect retailers on board," said Clearwire CEO William Morrow. "And this month we are wrapping up our final operational readiness testing and advanced some store openings, advertising and promotion opportunities."

Heightened Competition

Clearwire sees Atlanta as a tremendous opportunity to boost its subscriber base. Its current high-water mark is 500,000.

"In June we will be expanding to Atlanta, adding nearly three million people to the Clear coverage footprint and a city that will be our largest market to date," Morrow said. "With the network covering upward of twelve hundred square miles, we will have validated that we can design and deliver large-scale markets with our low-cost network architecture."

But Morrow admits that Clearwire will be facing heightened competition from the incumbent 3G wireless carriers.

"They, too, see the opportunity and firsthand the current strain on their existing networks, but we start with a different heritage," Morrow said. "Incumbents are mobile voice companies adding a narrow pipe for data," whereas "we are a mobile broadband data company and are adding applications, including voice."

Additionally, Morrow noted that Clearwire doesn't need to unseat the incumbent wireless carriers to build a successful business. "As we do not have the same business model, we can achieve good returns even at a relatively low level of market penetration," Morrow said. "We do not have a legacy network or the need to defend past investments."

A Niche Player

But Gartner Research...