Clearwire today announced plans for a “WiMAX Innovation Network” in Silicon Valley. The 4G network will cover more than 20 square miles, covering the grounds of participating companies like Google and Intel.
The service will be available for free to developers who qualify for the program, which is aimed at early development of 4G products. It’s expected to be running fully by summer of this year, a full year ahead of the expected commercial rollout of WiMAX in the Bay Area. The only cost incurred will be 50 bucks for the WiMAX USB modem.
From the release:
“The WiMAX Innovation Network will provide some of the world’s most talented developers with a live test environment in which to build broadband services specifically designed for the 4G mobile Internet experience,” said Scott Richardson, chief strategy officer for Clearwire. “Our goals have always been to change the way people access the Internet and provide new opportunities for mobile applications. Providing early access to an eager pool of developers while we continue to roll out 4G services nationally makes perfect sense.”
“The Cisco IP NGN architecture will play a key role in the WiMAX Innovation Network,” said Larry Lang, vice president and general manager of services and mobility business unit, Cisco. “An IP network is the platform to deliver on the promise of mobility and enable developers to create new services and applications. With an advanced Cisco IP NGN, these services can be unlocked to create revenue-generating offerings for service providers and a better, more tailored experience for the end user.”
“As we shift to an unwired, always connected Internet, new WiMAX-enabled notebooks and netbooks from Intel are available today that provide the power to deliver data-intensive applications and services on the go with new WIMAX networks,” said Sriram Viswanathan, vice president of Intel Capital and general manager of WiMAX Program Office, Intel. “We look forward to seeing what developers on this Innovation Network create to help accelerate and test the limits of WiMAX wireless broadband technology.”
“Enabling developers to start building the next generation of mobile applications on Clear’s 4G network now will encourage innovation and showcase the benefits of an open network,” said Larry Alder, mobile product manager at Google.
What we think?
I wonder if Alcatel-Lucent will be able to get in on this? It’s sounds like exactly the kind of thing it’d want to be involved with, given that it’s ng Connect program has pretty much the same goal in mind: get 4G products and services developed early so that they’re ready for consumers to just jump in on when the networks get a widespread launch.
