MuniWireless

Looks like the Clearwire folks will officially take the wraps off their Portland, Ore., mobile WiMax network on Jan. 6, according to the invite we just got from Clearwire and Intel. Clearwire, which had reportedly already been taking consumer signups for the network, looks like it isn’t going to waste time in 2009 launching its new form of wireless broadband.

And that’s a good thing for Clearwire and its investors, since it’s clear (hah) that the big telcos like AT&T and…

A tale of two cities: Philadelphia’s wireless network, acquired by a group of local investors, is being rolled out to parts of the city where there’s no access. More importantly, the investors are going after the municipal and business markets, two areas that EarthLink failed to focus on in its muni Wi-Fi strategy. Philly’s network sees over 100,000 users per day (correction: it’s not 100,000 users per day, but sessions per month — see Glenn Fleishman’s comment below), with more people online…

Stephouse Networks, a Portland-based wireless ISP, announced they are offering Wi-Fi and fixed WiMAX service within the five square miles of Portland’s downtown area and two square miles of North Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood. The fixed WiMAX service is targeted to enterprise users, primarily to replace more expensive T-1 lines.

Last week, I spoke to Tyler Booth, CEO of Stephouse, about their Portland network. Booth made it clear that Stephouse did not take over the MetroFi contract with Portland (even though…

MetroFi will be shutting down Portland’s network this month. With only 30 percent of the city covered, MetroFi announced several months ago that it could no longer expand or operate the network. MetroFi wanted $9 million from the city to continue network expansion and operations, but the city does not want to pay. It has no plans to use the network for municipal purposes. Philadelphia managed to find local investors to take over EarthLink’s network, but Portland is taking a…

MetroFi is trying to sell its citywide Wi-Fi networks in Portland (Oregon), Aurora and Naperville (Illinois) and Santa Clara, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Foster City and Concord (California). MetroFi founder, Chuck Haas, says he is also exploring the sale of MetroFi itself to a third party.

MetroFi is the latest service provider to exit the municipal wireless business. EarthLink has decided to shut down its network in Philadelphia and to stop the rollout of its network in Houston; Kite Networks, which had deployments…