With a trio of press releases, Clearwire and parent-company, Sprint, announced commitments to bringing their 4G WiMAX network to three major metropolitan markets by the year’s end. Clearwire says the service will first be fully available in New York City starting on Nov. 1, with Los Angeles following a month later on Dec. 1, and San Francisco sometime later in December.
The 4G service is similar to that of Wi-Fi but with a much larger range and is capable of speeds up to ten times that of existing 3G technology.
Clearwire and Sprint will each be offering their own brand of 4G service in each of the metropolitan areas. In San Francisco and New York, the companies will be partnering with cable companies Comcast and Time Warner Cable respectively to provide additional services.
Clearwire noted that users in select areas of New York and Los Angeles will be able to connect to the WiMAX network before its official launch date while final work is completed on the 4G network.
The Sprint/Clearwire 4G network is already available in 56 areas throughout the country. The company says also that Denver, Miami, Cincinnati, and Cleveland are slated to receive 4G services by the end of the year as well.
The launch comes as competitor, Verizon, has announced its own high-speed upgrade to its network which is slated to be carried out by the end of the year.
