A lot of time and words are spent bashing Comcast by many a pundit, but you can't ignore the fact that as a company they clearly have a strategy and a very defined one that says "we want to be you communications company."
In Portland Oregon, a market they serve in competition with iLec Qwest much in the same manner that Cablevision competes mostly with Verizon in the metro New York region, the cable giant is showcasing just why the invested in ClearWire after Sprint proved once again they can innovate but not market Xoom, their mobile WiMax play backed now by a consortium of cable operators and technology players including Google and Motorola, as well as Intel, who always plays the role of the Insider.
Rethink Wireless points out that:
Comcast is offering a 12-month introductory rate. For $50 a month, a subscriber gets 12Mbps home cable broadband and WiMAX, which is only a $7 premium over the cost of cable broadband alone (and includes a free Wi-Fi router). A national 3G add-on is an extra $20 a month and roaming to other Clearwire WiMAX markets is free. After the one-year trial the tariff goes up to $73 a month ($93 with 3G). There will be a $99 charge for a dongle (and other devices to follow in future), though people who commit to a two-year deal get the gadget for free.
To me, the $20 a month national mobile calling plan is a new low in pricing, and while the number of minutes weren't revealed, at the end of the day for $73 a month to have mobile WiMax, voice and cable broadband is a sweet deal. All they're missing is a WiFi roaming deal and this would make the WiMax bundle direction to really consider if you lived in the covered area.
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