Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow said Tuesday that Clearwire is planning to deploy its 4G Wimax service in more than 25 markets by year-end, reaching approximately 30 million people.
In addition, the US operator expects to extend its coverage to 80 markets by the end of 2010.
Morrow's comments, which were part of the firm's second-quarter earnings call with investors, primarily focused on the company's recent strides, including launching Clear in Atlanta and Las Vegas, launching a dual-mode modem, and naming Huawei as one of its key infrastructure vendors.
Although he wouldn't provide specific subscriber numbers for the company's mobile Wimax markets, Morrow did say that the company is seeing average daily subscriber uptake in July outpace June by 75%. In addition, he said that the uptake of mobile Wimax is helping to offset the attrition that the company is seeing in its pre-Wimax markets.
Morrow also said that the company is expecting to see a “substantial” increase in net adds in the fourth quarter when it will have more mobile Wimax markets operational.
“We anticipate our fourth quarter net adds will be higher than all three 2009 quarters combined,” Morrow said.
The company is ramping up to meet that growth. At the end of the second quarter Clearwire had 2,200 employees and it expects to have 3,000 by year-end.
Sprint Nextel, which has a 51% ownership stake in Clearwire and is operating its Sprint 4G service as a Clearwire MVNO, also announced 17 new markets where it would launch its 4G service this year, mirroring Clearwire's buildout plans.
The carrier also said it plans to launch Sprint 4G service in Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington in 2010
This article originally appeared in FierceWireless