New Vegas wireless Web access has high speed, small footprint

By Richard N. Velotta

Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 | 3 a.m.

A wireless Internet-access company is betting that its fourth-generation citywide mobile service will be a hit with customers who want to be online while on the go.

Jeremy Abler, general manager of Clearwire Communications and its Clear brand in Las Vegas, wouldn’t say how many subscribers his company has picked up since its July 21 launch in Southern Nevada, but added the company is “happy with the results so far.”

Clear uses WiMAX — Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access — technology to provide wireless Internet access in areas larger than Wi-Fi hot spots, but smaller than broadband wireless systems developed by telecommunications giants such as Verizon and Sprint.

Clear’s Las Vegas footprint is 638 square miles and its download speeds are faster than today’s third-generation wireless networks. Abler said Clear downloads are 3 to 6 megabytes per second with bursts of more than 10 mbps, while third-generation networks provide from 1 to 1.7 mbps. WiMAX speeds are similar to wired connections such as digital subscriber lines.

“The majority of our customers are looking for the newer technology,” Abler said. “Most already know about Internet service, but on our service they are more curious about the flexibility and portability.”

The company is interested in focusing on the service’s speed when pitching it as an alternative to wireless broadband, he said.

“The service allows customers to have high-speed Internet access wrapped around value,” Abler said. “It’s about flexibility and portability, which means you are no longer stuck at home surfing the Internet. You now can do it anytime, anywhere. It’s Internet for you, not your house.”

There isn’t a typical Clear customer who walks through the door, Abler said. That customer could be a mobile professional unsatisfied with speeds offered with third-generation modem cards who doesn’t want to seek out Wi-Fi hot spots, or a college student in need of Internet access at home, on campus or on the go, or a transportation service that wants to offer in-vehicle Internet access.

The price also is appealing: Home Internet service plans start at $20 a month, with mobile plans available for $30. A home-and-mobile combo starts at $45. Visitors or businesspeople attending a convention can buy a day pass for $10.

Because Clear can only connect customers in Las Vegas, the company offers a dual-mode 3G-4G plan than lets customers use WiMAX in the Las Vegas area and Sprint’s 4G network in any location not served by Clear. The plan is available for $80 a month and requires a two-year service agreement. The dual-mode plan was rolled out Aug. 1.

New software for Macintosh laptops is due Aug. 17 and will enable dual-mode service by the fourth quarter.

Clear has 54 retail outlets such as at the Galleria, Boulevard and Meadows malls, six Best Buys and 24 Radio Shacks.

Jeff Grace, a longtime Southern Nevadan who is president of NetEffect, a Las Vegas-based information technology support and consulting firm, said he has used the Clear service and found it to be reliable — although there are a few holes in the local network.

“It’s definitely faster than the wireless broadband,” he said. “I went ahead and tried the dual-mode 3G-4G plan with Sprint just to be covered around the entire valley. That also enables me to communicate when I go on out-of-town trips.”

Grace said he expects Clear to do well with consumers looking for a better way to connect with the Internet. That, he said, may not necessarily translate into a large number of business customers who may be committed to contracts with other providers.

Abler said Clear’s footprint extends across the valley and could be expanded to include Boulder City, but the company would only increase its coverage if warranted.

Clearwire rolled out its service in Atlanta, Baltimore and Portland, Ore., and the company plans to be in 80 markets nationwide by the end of 2010. This year Clear is scheduled to be in Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Seattle and Charlotte, N.C. The 2010 expansion will include New York, Boston, Washington, Houston and San Francisco.