Comcast to offer wireless
Internet serviceBy Deborah Yao Associated Press WriterPHILADELPHIA -
Comcast Corp. became the first major cable TV operator to roll out
wireless broadband outside of Wi-Fi hotspots as it launched the service
in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday, with at least three other cities to
follow this year.
Comcast will offer speeds of up to 4 Megabits
per second, faster than any other comparable, non-Wi-Fi service
currently being marketed. The service is for use with laptops, but not
other mobile devices.
Comcast's wireless broadband, which lets
users surf the Web on the go with their computers, pits it squarely
against the mobile data offerings of phone companies.

But
the cable operator is coming out first with the market's fastest
wireless broadband, using WiMax technology. Phone companies have lined
up behind a competing technology called LTE, with Verizon
Communications Inc. planning to deploy it next year.
Comcast,
which is the nation's largest cable operator, plans to offer the
wireless service in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago and other cities
later this year.
The service will be carried over the 4G network
of Clearwire Corp. where it's offered. Clearwire, a joint venture
involving Comcast, other cable operators and technology companies, is
currently in Portland and Atlanta, with plans to deploy in Las Vegas,
Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Honolulu,
Philadelphia and Seattle this year.
Elsewhere, the service will use Sprint Nextel Corp.'s 3G network.
Consumers
can sign up with either a plan that lets them surf wirelessly within a
city using Clearwire's network, or nationally switching between 4G and
Sprint's 3G network.
Comcast, along with Intel Corp., Time
Warner Cable Inc., Google Inc. and Bright House Networks, have hitched
their wireless Internet aspirations on WiMax. Together, they invested
$3.2 billion in Clearwire last year for a one-fourth stake. Sprint owns
a 51 percent stake.
Comcast High-Speed 2go Metro service over
Clearwire's network is on promotion for $49.95 a month for a year,
including Comcast's wired Internet home service and a Wi-Fi router. The
regular price is $72.95 a month. The national version, using Sprint,
costs $20 a month more.
|
| |