May 8, 2008
Sprint, Clearwire WiMax-ing Out
Get ready for WiMax to blanket our region with delicious, wherever-you-want speedy internet connections (provided you have a WiMax-enabled device). Come to mama.
Sprint and Clearwire Corporation announced that they're teaming up to form Clearwire, a new wireless communication company that's all about WiMax, which is like Wifi on awesome sauce. Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Networks invested a combined $3.2 billion in the new venture, and Chicago gets first dibs on the technology. Well, us and Baltimore and Washington. But still. Dibs.
According to the Trib, "Sprint executives say the Chicago network will come online by year-end." [Trib, Information Week, Sprint, Forbes]
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can someone speak to this concept for me? i just went on wiki, but is this a free thing or not? i keep hearing about how chicago is going to get free "wifi/wimax/wiwhatever" and all that, but i can't get a grip on this. i mean, you can pay for a 'sprint card' already, and pretty much get wifi wherever right now.
so what's the dif? and are macs wimaxed?
okay, in the trib article, it still doesn't mention price. also, it gets me actually creeped out, talking about a washing machine that can talk to its manufacturer. is this just another weird way to monitor us and stuff?
man, i'm so conflicted. i'm such a techno whore, and i'm also such a conspiracy theorist. what's a grrl to do?!
Sprint did a demo for the press last August.
This is being positioned as a competitor to cable modems/DSL, but since its not tied to a fixed location, they're talking smart devices, too, like the EEE PC, Macbook Air, Nokia N810. I think its *really* safe to say the service won't be free.
Prattfall is right -- the service definitely is not free. It's already being used out on the west coast (LA, Seattle) where Clearwire is based.
They currently don't have the devices available to plug into your Laptop, but they should be available soon. Speeds will be comparable with Cable & DSL, but you won't be tethered down. Also, you'll be able to connect your home desktop, wireless laptop, and whatever other devices you have to the internet with no fanagaling of any sort. Pretty cool idea, and it looks like the investors agreed.