Sidecut Reports

While the date is officially “tomorrow,” the press release for the Clearwire 4G WiMAX network launch in the San Francisco Bay Area is live late Monday night along with some very detailed coverage mapping that shows more than a few gaps in coverage both in and around San Francisco, as well as down the Peninsula and in many parts of Silicon Valley.

We’re laughing a little bit here at Sidecut HQ near downtown San Mateo, which is one of the bigger non-covered areas — though according to the Clearwire map if we walk down to the end of our block we should be able to see a signal. No worries here, since there are a bunch of buildings in downtown San Mateo that will probably get an antenna array sometime soon if the Clearwire model of quickly beefing up networks after initial deployment follows suit.

But the fairly incomplete coverage throughout the greater Silicon Valley region, especially in the south Bay towns of Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and Mountain View, means that Clearwire’s claim of users “never having to seek out Wi-Fi hotspots” may not be as complete as the company would like — and those gaps are right in the nexus of where a lot of computer/Internet industry folks live, work and play. Kind of an auspicious way to introduce a service to Silicon Valley, where skeptics abound. If those holes don’t get filled quickly Clearwire runs the risk of being tabbed as something not quite as good as advertised; and that rep is tough to live down in what is perhaps the nation’s most technologically savvy set of side-by-side suburbs.

From a marketing perspective, it’s worthy that Clearwire met its own-stated goal of launching the big markets of New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco before year’s end, even with big budgetary concerns staring the company in the face. And covering the whole “Bay area” is a huge project with multiple challenges including the Bay itself (water isn’t friendly to Clearwire’s spectrum) and multiple small hilly patches that increase the difficulty factor. Still — kudos to Clearwire for being honest and showing where coverage is, and where coverage isn’t, allowing potential users to make their purchase choice using real, solid data. Verizon’s LTE maps, by comparison, paint the region a very simple 4G red — with no tower-level views for street-by-street coverage comparison. Will potential customers start to make such data part of their 4G buying decision? If so then Clearwire is far ahead in the information department.

(Clearwire coverage map close-up below; non-green areas indicate no 4G coverage.)

Testing the Clearwire developer network in and around Silicon Valley — first stop is the classic Menlo Park “VC Central” Starbucks on the corner of Santa Cruz Ave. and Curtis Street: Maybe low because the patio is blocked by the building?

Here’s the Clearwire hybrid modem speed:

A second test:

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Cool kids at Stanford, the Googlers and folks at Cisco will be the first in the Bay area to get a taste of Clearwire’s 4G WiMAX wireless services, courtesy of the testbed network that was launched today. Some more thoughts on this later, but in the meantime Om has a good take on the importance of putting the service in the hands of innovators.

How to get service? From the press release:

To access the network, developers can purchase a Clearwire WiMAX USB modem for $49.99. Developer-owned, CLEAR network-ready WiMAX devices, such as the Samsung Mondi and WiMAX-embedded Intel-based PC’s, are also eligible for the program. To qualify, developers must register for Clearwire’s developer program and describe the WiMAX development ideas they wish to pursue. Interested developers can sign-up at http://developer.clear.com/innovation. The developers’ website will also include coverage maps and suggested drive routes for mobile application testing.

Bad map below; we’ll work on improving it! More from 4G world later…