Clearwire on Monday introduced a pay-as-you-go 4G mobile broadband service aimed at Generation Y consumers. Dubbed Rover, the brand works to appeal to a younger generation that isn’t hip on long-term contracts.
Mike Sievert, chief commercial officer for Clearwire, has done his homework. His research shows that commitment-free services are “wildly popular” with the Gen Y crowd.
“We’ve built Rover from the ground up with products, pricing and features designed specifically to serve a younger market who knows how you get connected is just as important as where,” Sievert said. “Expanding our offers to meet this underserved segment is an important new business opportunity for Clearwire as we continue to extend our leadership in mobile broadband.”
Hockey-Less Pucks
Rover’s flagship device is the Rover Puck, a portable Wi-Fi hot spot that lets consumers share broadband access with up to eight devices at the same time. The Rover Puck lets consumers connect devices such as laptops, netbooks, the iPad, the iPod touch, smartphones, PSP systems, game consoles, and Wi-Fi-enabled digital cameras.
The Rover Puck offers mobile download speeds of three to six Mbps, with bursts of more than 10 Mbps. That’s up to four times faster than conventional 3G. The Rover Puck is priced at $150.
The Rover Stick is a personal 4G USB modem that connects notebooks, laptops or desktops to the Rover 4G Service at the same speeds. The Rover Stick is compatible with Mac and Windows computers and retails for $100.
“The opportunity for pay-as-you-go mobile broadband should not be underestimated,” said Carrie MacGillvray, program manager and wireless analyst at IDC. “Prepaid — or pay-as-you-go — data provides an option for consumers to experiment with the power of mobile broadband without being saddled with a two-year commitment. A prepaid mobile broadband service can offer consumers the ability to access and share Internet…