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Clearwire announced it completed the first phase of a mobile WiMAX field trial in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. Individuals participating in the trial, which covered 15-square miles in Hillsboro, used a mobile WiMAX laptop card and reported broadband connections at multi-megabit speeds, Clearwire said.
?A lot of our results are in line or exceed the expectations of the WiMAX Forum. Generally, the speeds that the users are seeing are 2- to 4-megabits per second,? said Scott Richardson, chief strategic officer at Clearwire. Coverage during the trial was ?consistent with typical cell tower type of spacing,? he said. Richardson declined to elaborate on the results of handoffs between cell towers.
 According to reports, Clearwire ran the trial using the 2.5GHz frequency band and equipment based on the IEEE 802.16e standard. Intel and Motorola, both Clearwire investors, supplied the infrastructure and devices. It’s not clear whether it’s the “pre-WiMAX” Nextnet gear or the real deal, Mobile WiMAX (which must first pass the WiMAX PlugFest), then WiMAX Forum certification, scheduled later this year.
?The successful completion of the first phase of our mobile WiMAX trial is a significant milestone in our efforts to commercially deploy true mobile broadband services in the U.S.,? Richardson said. ?By demonstrating initial performance consistent with the WiMAX industry standards, we are making great progress in our ability to evolve our networks to take advantage of the benefits of a standards-based technology for future Clearwire subscribers.?
 Clearwire plans to expand its mobile WiMAX test with more users and expand the coverage area to 145-square miles.
Clearwire will have competition in Portland from Sprint as well as unlicensed fixed WiMAX providers like Stephouse Networks (right), and FreeWire which use the 5.8 GHz band. Stephouse now offers enterprise class WiMAX service available in many parts of downtown Portland, Oregon with T1, T3, and even Fiber grade services at a fraction of the cost.
CEO of Stephouse Networks, Tyler Booth, gave me a rooftop tour of the Pittock Building in downtown Portland last week and pointed out the variety of antennas on the roof (there must have been 20-30).
As I recall, the mast at right includes a Stephouse Proxim antenna (top, left) and Clearwire’s 18 GHz backhaul link (bottom, right). One of their cell tower installations is near the Orenco stop on Portland’s light rail line. More on the rooftop tour on a later posting.
Stephouse (which also hosts DailyWireless for a bargain $50/month), uses Proxim WiMax gear in the 5.8 GHz band to deliver both point-to-point and multi-point service.
Unlicensed WiMAX can deliver to the premises then distribute inside via Wi-Fi. Licensed WiMax may be able to penetrate inside more easily than Wi-Fi, due to less interference and its ability to ratchet modulation up and down.
Portland’s WiFi contractor, MetroFi is putting roughly 25 access points per square mile, reports the AP, but it still doesn’t penetrate indoors. In Portland, as in other cities, municipal wireless operators like MetroFi are recommending signal boosters to get indoor coverage.
WiMAX World Europe 2007, the largest wireless and mobile broadband event in EMEA will be held on 29-31 May 2007 in Vienna, Austria.
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