Pre-WiMax Service About To Launch In Seattle

May 04, 2005

A wireless ISP (WISP) said that it will soon launch pre-WiMAX wireless broadband service aimed at enterprises in Seattle, with one antenna being atop the city's well-known Space Needle.

Speakeasy, a national broadband vendor, said in a statement that it will start taking customer orders today and will bring customers online in June. The service will cover the downtown area as well as some nearby neighborhoods, the vendor said.

Speakeasy promised that it would expand the service to other large U.S. cities, although it did not say which cities those would be.

The network will use base station and end user equipment from Alvarion, the company said.

While Speakeasy claims it is first with such service, at least one other WISP, TowerStream, is already offering pre-WiMAX service to enterprises in a number of cities including New York, Boston and Los Angeles. In addition, a similar deployment for Tokyo was previously announced and is expected to be deployed by the end of this year.

The company said that prices will start at $500 a month for a 3MB connection.

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