Comcast Does 3G In Beantown, With WiMax In The Wings
Clearwire won't be ready to roll with the WiMax broadband service in Boston until late 2010, so Comcast will initially market a 3G wireless data service provided through Sprint's network in the region.
Sprint's 3G network provides download speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps, whereas Clearwire says its WiMax network can deliver more than 10 Mbps speed with average downlink speeds of between 3 and 6 Mbps.
Clearwire has said it expects launches in Boston and other markets, including New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Denver, "toward the end" of 2010.
Comcast has invested about $1 billion in Clearwire, which is majority-owned by Sprint. Other investors in the wireless company include Time Warner Cable -- which rolled out its first WiMax service for business customers in Texas -- Bright House Networks, Intel and Google.
Comcast's strategy is to bundle High-Speed 2Go with cable TV, phone or wireline Internet products. In Boston, the "Fast Pack Nationwide" bundle carries an introductory price of $54.99 per month for 12 months, and includes 12-Mbps downstream service at home and 3G nationwide access.
The High-Speed 2go Nationwide 3G plans start at an additional $40 per month for customers who subscribe to another Comcast service.
Sprint's monthly limit for 3G wireless data usage is 5 Gigabytes, with additional usage billed at 10 cents per Megabyte.
"We are thrilled to now offer our wireless High-Speed 2go service to our busy, on-the-move Boston area customers so they can access the Internet from anywhere, anytime," Steve Hackley, senior vice president for Comcast's Greater Boston region, said in a statement.
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