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Clearwire goes Seattle
First deployment outside Clearwire modus operendi
The news this week is that Clearwire will be deploying in Seattle. The pundits missed a few significant elements of this news. The big thing here is that this marks Clearwire's first deployment in a tier one city. This is significant for a number of reasons.
First, Clearwire's business plan to date (very smart IMHO) has been to identify smaller cities where the household incomes are higher than the national average of $45,000 per year (some as high as $70,000). Discretionary income and broadband internet access are inextricably linked. By covering most of the greater Seattle area (if I understand this correctly) is a marked departure from this earlier strategy of targeting specific demographics for deployment.
A second criteria for Clearwire had been to target those markets with limited choices in broadband. Redcloud, Minnesota, for example, has not figured high on the list of national service providers. Ergo, a service provider of Clearwire's caliber would be assured a loyal, low-churn subscribership. Setting up shop in a tier one city like Seattle where they will have to go head-to-head with DSL and cable modem may pose challenges. Even more so as Sprint launches its WiMAX service.
So why did they do it? Shear weight of the numbers of potential subscribers, no doubt. Erect base station, hand out subscriber units (CPE) and collect cash. Damn the competition, full speed ahead!
Frank Ohrtman
WMX Systems
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