Clearwire Extends 4G to Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

Apple mobile products may currently be the exclusive offerings of the AT&T network, but that hasn't stopped Sprint-owned Clearwire from offering iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch owners a new connectivity option.

Clearwire on Aug. 4 debuted the Clear iSpot, a personal hot spot with "dedicated support for Apple's line of mobile devices," the company said in a statement. The iSpot can create a WiFi cloud that extends the 4G speeds of Clearwire's WiMax network to up to eight WiFi-enabled Apple devices.

"With the iSpot, Apple customers don't have to sort through confusing service plans with overage fees, nor do they have to worry about how much data they're using," Thomas Enraght-Moony, senior vice president of marketing at Clearwire, said in a statement. "Instead, with Clear, customers can run all of their Apple mobile devices at true broadband speeds for a single, simple monthly fee."

That monthly fee is $25 with the purchase of a $100 iSpot—which is not connected to a required-term contract. And as it'll be hanging out with Apple products, Clearwire has outfitted it like one of the gang, in a clean, white rounded-edge design. Already have a service contract? That's not really the point, Clearwire explained on its Clear Blog. Live streaming from AT&T's 3G network—or worse, AT&T's 2G network—can be a drag. iSpot would like to make things easier.

"Apple has an impressive lineup of mobile products, but until now users have had to seek out WiFi hot spots to take full advantage of them. Sure, the iPad has a Netflix app, but waiting for the stream to buffer over a 3G network isn't the most ideal experience," the company wrote in an Aug. 3 blog post. "Thanks to our unlimited data plans, users can now stream movies on Netflix on their iPad, watch sporting events online, listen to music with Pandora on their iPod Touch, and FaceTime with friends and family members on the new iPhone 4 for as long as they want."

In August, Clearwire added five new cities—or coverage for approximately 2 million more people—to its growing 4G network. By year's end, it plans to increase the number of users covered to approximately 120 million.

The signal on the Clear iSpot spans 150 feet, and a charge on the device is said to last up to 4 hours. Through Aug. 5, Clearwire will also be offering a special one-day introductory sales price that's 70 percent off the retail value. Visit Clear.com for more details. After Aug. 10, the iSpot will additionally be available through Clearwire retail stores and authorized retail partners.