At CTIA, Clearwire took the wraps off their first mobile hotspot-in-a-box.
The CLEAR Spot, which is developed by wan-enabled hotspot manufacturer Cradlepoint, enables WiMAX service to be accessed from any standard Wi-Fi device.
It appears that the device will be sold at around the same price of a standard Cradlepoint box, for $139. That is nearly half the price of a standard Cradlepoint router, and there’s actually more inside a Clear Spot than a standard Cradlepoint router. However, with Clear service being offered sans-contract, Clear appears to be banking upon making that up in additional service charges.
Additionally, Clearwire confirmed that the device would be interchangeable with existing Clear plans, currently limited to Portland customers. Those same plans will be accessible to XOHM customers, who will retain their grandfathering privileges.
It is not clear when the CLEAR Spot will be available to customers in the legacy Clearwire markets, however that will likely happen alongside the network integration of older Clearwire markets, tentatively set for some time in 2010.
