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Mar. 17, 2009

Comcast said that it plans to launch a new mobile Internet service in Portland, Oregon over Clearwire’s Wi-MAX network.

The new service is expected in June or July, placing it among the first of Clearwire’s joint venture partners to resell the mobile Wi-MAX service for that part of the U.S.

Comcast's Stephen Burke says that his company will buy mobile WiMAX at wholesale prices and resell it under its own name, likely offering it as part of a bundle comprised of TV, phone and fixed Internet.

Comcast has $1 billion invested in Clearwire.

Other than Burke, company officials could not be reached for comment, but the move comes as cable operators try to fend off fresh competition from wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&T, who have released competing bundles over fiber optic networks.

Overall, the paid television service market is saturated, but mobile data is a growth market that cable hopes to get a share of before mobile carriers launch competing 4G networks.

The company says it will expand its mobile WiMAX network to cover 120 million people in 80 markets by next year, a slightly lower prediction from 2008’s forecast of 140 million.

Clearwire recently replaced CEO Ben Wolf with industry veteran Bill Morrow, moving Wolf to co-chairman.

The company has defied widespread speculation that it lacked the capital for a swift Wi-MAX network deployment, announcing that it would burn through $1.5 billion to $1.9 billion this year alone, in an effort to build its own network.

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Source: Comcast.