Clearwire Communications today officially introduced the software development community in Silicon Valley to the largest 4G WiMAX application test environment with the launch of the company’s CLEAR 4G WiMAX Innovation Network. The developer network, which is a precursor to commercial service planned for the San Francisco Bay Area in 2010, will cover more than 20 square miles in Santa Clara, Mountain View and parts of downtown Palo Alto, California.
The current coverage footprint includes the local campuses of Intel and Google, two founding Innovation Network supporters who have also commenced their own internal 4G application development programs. Cisco’s campus will receive coverage in the coming months as the network expands.
Bright House, Comcast, Sprint, and Time Warner Cable also will join Clearwire, Cisco, Intel, and Google as partners in the Innovation Network with plans to participate in promoting the program and deploying 4G development resources into the network.
Additionally, Clearwire announced today that it will participate as a platinum sponsor of the Sprint Open Developer Conference scheduled for October 26-28 in Santa Clara, California. Developers can register to attend the conference at http://developer.sprint.com/devcon2009. Developers interested in working in the CLEAR 4G WiMAX environment are encouraged to attend the conference to learn about the Innovation Network from Clearwire executives first hand.
Developers can expect to see peak download speeds of up to 10 Mbps, with average download speeds of 3 to 6 Mbps. In contrast, some of today’s 3G wireless networks typically deliver download speeds of between 600 kbps – 1.4 Mbps. The experience is similar to that provided by Wi-Fi, but without the short-range limitations of a traditional hot spot. CLEAR uses a 4G technology that differs from Wi-Fi called WiMAX, which provides service areas measured in miles, not feet. In addition, WiMAX technology is truly mobile and enables seamless handovers from tower to tower, similar to cellular.
Service will be provided free to a limited number of qualified developers leading up to the commercial service launch in this area. To access the network, developers can purchase a Clearwire WiMAX USB modem for $49.99. Developer-owned, CLEAR network-ready WiMAX devices, such as the Samsung Mondi and WiMAX-embedded Intel-based PC’s, are also eligible for the program. To qualify, developers must register for Clearwire’s developer program and describe the WiMAX development ideas they wish to pursue. Interested developers can sign-up at http://developer.clear.com/innovation. The developers’ website will also include coverage maps and suggested drive routes for mobile application testing.
Filed Under: Breaking News
About the Author: Faysal Chowdhury, a Civil Engineer at day and an intelligent tech blogger at night. Stationed in Dhaka, Bangladesh he is has been with HotCellularPhone.com since the beginning, dated back to 2008. After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in 2006, he started working as a Civil Engineer for Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) but his tech savvy mind always kept up with the mobile world and keeping everyone updated as well.
