A recent announcement of an alliance between Clearwire and Cisco will see Cisco becoming its national core Internet infrastructure provider, which should help in the expansion of 4G mobile WiMAX services all over the United States.
Plans for the 4G mobile WiMAX service by Clearwire, which is marketed as Clear, have been unveiled by Cisco in which it will be building new mobile WiMAX devices for small-business and consumers.
According to the company, which offers mobile WiMAX in Portland, Ore and Baltimore, Md at present, the 4G mobile WiMAX service from Clearwire will be made available in the main metropolitan areas, with service to 80 markets planned for by the end of 2010 as part of a multiyear network build-out plan with Cisco.
Later in the year Cisco is also aim to introduce its first device for use with mobile WiMAX. Products from the networking giant’s Linksys range of routers for consumers are set to be including as future Cisco Wi-Fi and WiMAX enabled devices.
In a statement the chief strategy officer for Clearwire, Scott Richardson said “By teaming with Cisco, one of the world’s most forward-looking IP network infrastructure providers, we’re building a robust and cost-efficient next-generation network that’s designed specifically for delivering rich broadband services.”
Clearwire and Cisco are betting on mobile data traffic growth in the future with this latest partnership, which if the proliferation of mobile-enabled devices and trends in usage carry an as they are seems a very reasonable bet to make.
Based on the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Mobile Forecast for 2008 – 2013, over 30 times more data traffic is generated by one high-end smartphone than with a standard-feature cell phone, whereas it would take 450 standard-feature cell phones to match the data traffic generated by a single laptop connecting over a carrier network.
Over the next 7 years from 2005 to 2012 Cisco have projected that, with video as a significant component, mobile data traffic will rise by a factor of one thousand.
In a statement a senior vice president for Cisco’s corporate development and corporate business, Ned Hopper said “Clearwire’s ecosystem of partners, coupled with our all-IP, next-generation network, will deliver a true mobile broadband experience. In addition, incorporating WiMAX into our products will help enable people to move freely throughout the United States, while maintaining continuous connectivity to personalized applications and services.”