Clear And Sprint Launch WiMax In NYC

Clearwire and Sprint have been teasing New Yorkers with WiMax for more than a month, now. It has been available in a handful of neighborhoods for weeks, but today the network officially launches with coverage across large portions of the New York City metropolitan region.

All five boroughs of New York City, six counties in New Jersey, and New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, all have access to the WiMax network. Sprint and Clearwire say that the addition of the NYC metro region brings coverage to more than 11 million people.

In New Jersey, WiMax has been added to the city of New Brunswick, covering more than 630,000 people between Woodbridge, Monmouth Junction, Old Bridge and Piscataway. In Trenton, WiMax covers more than 250,000 people. Service extends as far north as Princeton Junction and Lawrenceville, east to Hamilton Square, south through White Horse and west to the Delaware River.

In New Haven and Hartford, WiMax covers nearly 1.5 million people. In New Haven, service extends as far north as the town of Wolcott, as far south as the town of Stratford, east to the town of Branford and west to Oakville. In Hartford, service extends as far north as Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, as far south as the city of Meriden, east to the town of Manchester, and west to the city of Bristol.

Last, WiMax now covers nearly two million people in Tampa Bay, Florida. Service extends as far north as Bearss Avenue and as far south as Riverview Drive in Hillsborough County, east to the town of Valrico and west to Clearwater Beach.

What does WiMax offer these communities?

Sprint and Clear are offering a number of products that can access the WiMax network. Some are only compatible with WiMax -- such as the Clear Spot 4G and certain in-home modems. Others, such as the Clear Spot 4G+, HTC EVO 4G and Samsung Epic 4G, can acces both the WiMax network and Sprint's 3G network.

Sprint and Clear say that users of WiMax for mobile broadband data will see average download speeds between 3 and 6 Mbps, with bursts ranging up to 10Mbps.

Sprint and Clear are opening a number of stores in the new markets where customers can purchase equipment and set up service. Sprint and Clear both offer no-contract and contract services.

Sprint and Clear now say that WiMax covers 62 markets across the U.S., with more cities -- including Los Angeles and San Francisco -- to launch by the end of the year.