Clearwire nears rollout of its wireless broadband in region

Clearwire, a company that says it's leading the untethering of broadband users from land-line connections,will roll out service in northern Nevada within 30 to 90 days.

The company, which employs about 30 persons in the area, is testing its transmission towers as it prepares to launch its service, said Neal VanCitters, Clearwire's general manager in the region.

Primary targets for the service, which is priced between $30 and $40 a month, are teens and young people, small offices, home offices and residential users, said Perry Satterlee, president and chief operating officer of the company based at Kirkland,Wash.

Clearwire introduced its wireless Internet service in 25 markets most of them in the West in the past year.

The privately held company doesn't disclose its penetration rates in those markets, Satterlee said.

VanCitters said the market that includes Reno, Sparks and Carson City was targeted because of its growth, its demographics the company says 35 percent of the region's population is under 25 and an outdoors lifestyle that places a premium on wireless connections.

Coverage also will be available in Fernley, Gardnerville, Incline Village and South Lake Tahoe.

It uses licensed frequencies, allowing it to cover much wider areas than do Wi-Fi "hot spots." In a presentation to the Directions 2006 conference in Reno last week, Satterlee said the company founded by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw believes that wireless Internet ultimately may allow consumers to deliver data to household appliances such as their ovens as well as their laptop computers.

Satterlee said the company believes a key to widespread adoption is allowing consumers to set up service as easily as possible.

Clearwire says most customers are able to get started within three minutes.

"Our customers don't consider themselves to be technological innovators," he said.