Comments on: Clearwire starts shrinking as Sprint makes the leap to LTE

By: Mike S

Mike S — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 07:54:03 +0000

I was a Clear subscriber for about a year. Between the severe throttling, and the fact that they said at the time of sale I wouldn’t be under a contract, and then claimed I was, I’ll have nothing more to do with them, and neither will my friends and family.

By: Luscious

Luscious — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 22:23:00 +0000

Clear may be losing subscribers but it offers two huge benefits to those who subscribe – unlimited data and speed based pricing. You simply won’t find another carrier in the U.S. that allows notebook tethering on 4G the way Clear does, and that’s a BIG differentiator.

Could they jack up pricing with LTE service to improve their cash flow? It’s very possible, and given the bargain $49.99 pricing of their current top-tier plan, I’d happily pony up more dough for an even faster connection.

Clear will have problems though if existing subscribers get burned in the transition, either because their current hardware doesn’t get upgraded to work with LTE, or Clear decides to throw the switch to LTE and leave WiMax customers cold. The company is going to have to tread very carefully in the coming months if it intents to keep subscribers.

By: Robert Syputa, robert at Maravedis com

Robert Syputa, robert at Maravedis com — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 21:11:12 +0000

The problem stems from the service the ’4G’ technology network delivers at 2.6GHz: incomplete and low building penetration compared to 3G and 4G using lower frequency bands.

The way to remedy that is found in the latest LTE-Advanced standards: through use of a combination of macro-cell, micro/femtocell and cooperative and tiered cell networks. This approach can be called HetNet but will evolve into ‘Smart HetNet’ form of ‘true 4G’ in coming years as Qualcomm now calls it.

The basic problem is that users have not been satisfied with the quality of Clearwire’s BB service. The peak bandwidth is OK. The price is ‘just OK’. But the quality of service has not kept up with the rapid rise in mobile broadband alternatives… namely 3.9G HSPA and similar 3.9G version of LTE. While Clearwire plans to use LTE-Advanced to help fix this, that only goes part of the way in coverage and penetration due to severe capital limitations on deployments. LTE-A is good stuff but it does not walk on water.

-Robert S.