Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) on Monday spelled out when its fourth-generation wireless network would cover New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, addressing questions about the reach of its service and the speed of its rollout.

Clearwire said its 4G network would be available in New York Nov. 1, Los Angeles Dec. 1, and San Francisco in late December.

Having started its rollout of a more readily available 4G technology called WiMax more than two years ago, Clearwire and majority shareholder Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) enjoyed a significant lead in the race for next-generation wireless services. But Clearwire's slow deployment strategy, which avoided major media markets such as New York and San Francisco in favor of lower profile cities such as Portland and Las Vegas, has allowed other companies to considerably narrow the gap with their own 4G network deployments.

Because Clearwire's services are still unavailable in the media hubs of New York and San Francisco, they haven't received much attention. Sprint, Clearwire and investor Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) made their announcement about New York in a joint statement, while Comcast Corp. (CMCSK, CMCSA) was part of the San Francisco announcement.

It is, however, available in 56 markets across the U.S. The company also plans to get its 4G network up over other major cities including Denver, Miami and Cincinnati.

Later this year, Verizon Wireless--jointly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Vodafone Group PLC (VOD)--plans to initially launch its network, which runs on a more widely embraced 4G technology called Long-Term Evolution, in 38 cities, including most of the major metropolitan areas. MetroPCS Communications Inc. (PCS) has already launched its own LTE network in Las Vegas and Dallas.

The pace of the buildout has been a key source of friction between Clearwire and Sprint. Clearwire Chief Executive William T. Morrow, in an interview earlier this month, acknowledged tension over the deployment plans, as well as the development of its own direct retail channel, which competes directly with the same service Sprint resells to its customers.

Earlier this month, Sprint's officers, including Chief Executive Dan Hesse, resigned from the Clearwire board in what was widely seen as a way to remove the executives and increase Clearwire's flexibility to strike new deals. Clearwire has been in talks with companies such as Deutsche Telekom AG's (DTEGY) T-Mobile USA about the potential sale of some of its wireless spectrum assets.

Morrow, however, said the moves were unrelated to any possible future deals.

Despite the slow buildout, Clearwire is starting to gain momentum. In the second quarter, the company added 722,000 subscribers, bringing its base to 1.7 million customers.

Much of the growth came from Sprint, which has sparked interest in 4G technology through the sale of its Android-power smartphone, the Evo 4G, made by HTC Corp. (HTCXF, 2498.TW). In the third quarter, the carrier followed up the device with the Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (SSNHY, 005930.SE) Epic 4G.

Clearwire shares remain unchanged at $6.93 in premarket trading.

-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2153; roger.cheng@dowjones.com

(Spencer Ante contributed to this article.)

 
 
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