Clearwire sees promise in LTE, switch from WiMAX possible

By on May 20, 2011 at 2:08 PM
mobile May 20, 2011


It’s no secret that Clearwire’s going through a rough patch and, in an interview with CNET, Clearwire’s chief operating officer Erik Prusch said that the carrier may eventually switch from WiMAX to LTE. “WiMAX to date has been a very good technology choice for us,” Prusch said. “We were able to take advantage of the speed to market before LTE was even a glimmer in anyone’s eye. But we recognize the ecosystem in the U.S. will be larger for LTE than WiMAX, so we are conscious of that.” Last summer Clearwire confirmed that it would begin testing 4G LTE trials in the U.S., and it expected to demonstrate that it “[could] deliver significantly higher performance using LTE technologies than any other operator.” It’s unclear how those tests went, but Prusch did backtrack a bit and say that a switch isn’t definite, and that Clearwire needs to keep its eye on LTE and its ecosystem before pulling the trigger and setting a definite timeline. Last month Sprint — which owns a majority stake of Clearwire — said that it has agreed to pay the company $1 billion through 2012 for fees associated with the use of Clearwire’s 4G WiMAX network.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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19 Comments

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  • Anonymous

    Can’t we all just get along with 700 MHz LTE? Do we have to engage in a next-generation CDMA vs. GSM fight? 

    • Anonymous

       Well that’s why they’ll eventually go with LTE like everyone else!!

    • Anonymous

      Thats the whole point 700mhz is crowded AT&T and VZW have all of it.. Sprint and Clear have more 4G capable bandwidth than those two put together.. Sprint’s real 4G is going to be on the Iden Bandwidth at 8-900.. The FCC forced Sprint to introduce service on 2500 in 4 years which is why they had to go with Wimax LTE wasnt ready yet.. Wimax is geat for me but when Sprint moves to the 8-900 band watch out that will be the best 4G network in America

  • http://twitter.com/bugabuga Max Smolev

     I wish they’d stop all this mincing and simply said “Yes, we will switch to LTE in so-many-months”.
    Yes, WiMax was fantastic before LTE. And before then there were older standards too. So, say “so long, and thanks for all the fish” and move onto the faster and more widespread standard :)

  • Dale

    I use Clear’s Wimax/3G modem and services and have been quite satisfied with the network’s performance.

    I’m not surprised that Clearwire would switch to LTE for the reasons stated. It makes sense given the network “ecosystem” and the all of the carriers eventually going LTE.

    I hope that Clear will send me a new modem and software to use LTE.

     

    • Anonymous

       You’re one of the few happy with their clearwire service, because it blows hard for a lot of people.

      • Anonymous

         yea all of the hundreds of thousands of people signed up because it doesn’t work

      • Anonymous

        I wonder why Clearwire is trying to close up their retail business? Because it’s so lucrative?

        Any of Clearwire’s customer additions are due to wholesale.

         stfu

  • Anonymous

    Really? After they claimed they would NEVER leave WiMAX?

    I just have to laugh. I’ve been saying this for the longest, Clearwire is going to DITCH WIMAX!!!!

    • Anonymous

      Your avatar is going to haunt my nightmares until the end of time which, fortunately, is tomorrow. 

    • Sin City

      How wasn’t it obvious that they were going to switch to LTE?  It’s like saying bragging that Sprint was going to switch to LTE, when they constantly said they might in the future for 4 years now.  Clearwire will make it official, as soon as Sprint announces their decision this summer.  Sprint mind been was made up for months now, so I have no idea what’s the suspense is for. 

      • Anonymous

         You’re kidding right. Clearwire has lied over and over again these past few years saying that they we’re 110% committed to LTE. Sprint is not Clearwire. They constantly said your WiMAX devices won’t become obslete and useless. Well, now they will be.

  • Anonymous

    Way to go, Clearwire.
    LTE as home internet is sweeter because no running wire to home required.
    10Mbps is good, 40Mbps isn’t just 4x better.

    • Matthew

      i bet Clearwire or sprint will eventually have a bandwith cap or throttle at some point like every other carrier.

      • Anonymous

         No need Sprint has plenty of 2500mhz and the whole iDen network to convert to 4G.. Most 4G customers are on Sprint or Clear now and that’s how it will be..

  • Matthew

     Sprint agreed to pay the company $1 billion through 2012 for fees associated with the use of Clearwire’s 4G WiMAX network.  $1 billion for what?  is that for the 3-4 years sprint has been using wimax and doesnt sprint own like half of clearwire why would it pay that much money?

  • http://twitter.com/ggore Glenn Gore

    This is great, Sprint, who has virtually no 4G presence anywhere, will now have to scrap all the 4G equipment it has installed and order new LTE stuff that will take years and years to receive and install?     By the time this all happens the world will have moved on to NLTE (Next Long Term Evolution) or 5G or whatever.    Sprint is so far behind right now it’s sad.     Sprint has excellent 3G coverage here while AT&T and Verizon have none, not even basic CDMA or EDGE.    

    • Ceeaser28

       wrong please know what your talking about before posting. It has been known for over 2 yrs now, that Wimax to LTE is a matter of a software upgrade to their existing towers. So no they dont need to scrap/buy new equipment smh. 

    • Tonedabone

       The WiMax to LTE switch is just a software upgrade. No hardware changes at all. I don’t think it will be too much of a hassle for Hesse to get er done. heh

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