Analyst Paul Kapustka of Sidecut Reports shared his latest research brief over the weekend detailing recent US WiMAX news and offering analysis of the Clearwire network rollout to date. The brief is part of a new series of Clearwire “Need to Know” (NTK) reports that the analyst firm is peddling quarterly at the ridiculously low price of $4.95 a pop. (Don’t ask questions, just enjoy.) 
Among other findings, Paul Kapustka makes an educated guess on the success of Clearwire’s Portland market (powered exclusively by Motorola’s WiMAX radio access network equipment). Since launching in January, Clearwire has likely gained between 15,000 and 20,000 new WiMAX subscribers in the Oregon metropolis. With cash in hand, Clearwire is also on track to make the rest of its promised market launches by the end of the year, with soft launches reportedly already underway in Atlanta and Las Vegas. (More Motorola markets)
The NTK report goes into some analysis of consumer WiMAX devices as well, specifically the new Clear Spot, which hooks into the Clearwire WiMAX network, but allows consumers on the front end to create a mobile Wi-Fi hot spot. The offering is similar to ones that other carriers have debuted over 3G networks. However, as Kapustka points out, “there is no limit on how much data or what applications can be used via the Clear Spot.”
Check out the rest of the Clearwire NTK report if you’re interested, also available in Kindle format from Amazon. There is more on Clearwire pricing trials and speculation on the future of US WiMAX service.
[...] has promised several more market launches before the end of the year, and there’s word that Las Vegas is in soft launch already. So far, all of the new Clear-branded WiMax markets are being powered by Motorola. Possibly related [...]
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