SubscribeOne of the benefits of being an investor in Clearwire is that Time Warner Cable will get to leverage the benefits of that investment. This fall, Time Warner Cable will introduce a wireless broadband option, similar to what Comcast is offering, to provide a portable version of Road Runner.
The Time Warner Cable WiMax service will launch first in Dallas and Charlotte, North Carolina.
If it is anything comparable to what Comcast is providing through Clearwire, expect 4Mbps service for about $30 more a month. Roaming service may also be an option outside of Clearwire service areas on Sprint’s 3G data network. Comcast charges an extra $20 a month for that capability.
No usage allowance information has been released.
The Clearwire mailings I’ve received over the past couple years have not impressed me and when I checked out their site I found this gem in their TOS: 3. Data Plans/Overages – Applicable only to CLEAR Accounts You will be entitled to use the CLEAR Service for the bandwidth amounts and download speeds (collectively referred to as the “Plan Amount”) listed on your Order Confirmation. If you exceed your allotted Plan Amount, Clearwire will automatically charge you and you agree to pay an additional internet service usage fee per gigabyte of additional bandwidth pursuant to the provisions of your Order… Read more »
Last I heard, Clearwire wanted to dump caps for their WiMax Clearwire-branded service, because consumers turned their nose up at them the moment they found out the service had them (surprise, surprise). I suspect TWC and Comcast will disguise market their WiMax white labeled Clearwire service (slap your cable company logo on it even though it’s basically the same as Clearwire service directly from them) as a mobile broadband service. Consumers are enduring 5GB monthly caps on those services, so I’d hardly be surprised to see the same cap from both Comcast and TWC. Paying essentially $30 a month more… Read more »
Well as of today at 1:33pm the cap/overage language was still in their TOS so we’ll wait and see. However WiMax is a joint venture between Clearwire and Sprint (as I recall) with TWC and Comcast close monetary partners. Sprint already offers “unlimited” (5GB) data plans for their phones at $15 and $30 rates – the best in the mobile biz. I haven’t been able to tell the difference between the two plans besides $15 and I pay for the $15 plan. If you dig around on their site I think you can find it. It’s called the Data Pack.… Read more »
Of all the internet savvy people against these caps, I wonder why nobody has attempted to start their own ISP. The second that caps are even implied as a possibility I disregard whatever service I just heard about.
You’ll find it has been discussed if you can search the archives for ‘municipal’. I know I’ve thought about it before but the problem is start-up capital. Starting an ISP requires millions of dollars in equipment to overbuild the cable network and it requires permission from the municipality (Rochester in my case). The thought isn’t gone, but right now I have neither the time nor the money to be able to take on Time Warner Cable and Frontier on my own. If caps were in place and our situation was closer to that of Shaw/Novus/Telus/Bell in Canada then there may… Read more »