October 13, 2005

Wireless broadband service provider Clearwire Corp. reported a distribution agreement with retailer Best Buy to offer Clearwire's service in select Best Buy locations across the country by the end of October.

Best Buy will sell Clearwire's plug-and-play wireless modem, which the company said could be installed by the consumer.

"Our relationship with Clearwire takes our assortment of high-speed Internet offerings to a whole new level by providing customers with a broadband wireless solution they can use as soon as they get home from our store," said Wendy Fritz, vice president of subscription services at Best Buy.

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"We expect Clearwire's plug-and-play approach for the consumer will help differentiate Best Buy as a superior retailer of high-speed Internet solutions, both in the home, at the office and on the go."

Clearwire, which is backed by wireless industry pioneer Craig McCaw, uses a pre-WiMAX technology from NextNet Wireless and is available in parts of Florida, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, Texas and Wisconsin.

The service ranges from $30 to $50 per month for unlimited access with speeds of between 786 kilobits per second and 1.5 megabits per second on the downlink and 256 kbps on the uplink.

Source: RCR News