WiMAX company gets real money
Ralf Haller
July 6th, 2006
Cnet and the Inquirer both report that Intel is making a serious investment in WiMAX deployment by funding Clearwire to the tune of $600 Million. Motorola, which is purchasing the equipment manufacturing part of Clearwire, appears to have contributed most of the rest of the $900 Million total financing round. The CNET article gives some interesting additional background:
WiMax is a packet-based technology that transmits data faster than current cellular technology and over longer distances than Wi-Fi gear. Although commercial WiMax offerings are essentially nonexistent these days, 175 trials have been kicked off around the world. Ultimately, WiMax will connect computers to the Internet as well as carry cellular and voice traffic.
The question hanging over WiMax is, who will pay for the equipment to create WiMax networks? Clearwire’s $900 million infusion could ease some of that concern.
As an example of the 175 trials there is this announcement about a trial in Turkey.
One thing I find interesting is the pricing of the business model. CNET reports that Clearwire’s offering is in the $30-$40/month range for service up to 1.5Mbps down/256kpbs up. I am sure these rates and prices are competitive in the US, but they look a little steep compared to France. Last year I paid €31/month for 8Mbps down/512kps up and just last week I upgraded to 20Mbps down/1Mbps up for the same price (prices in both countries include the $5/month modem “rental” charge) and, while I have yet to verify really getting 20Mbps, I did definitely get over 10Mbps this morning during a sustained download.