Is it Clear enough?

Portland is a pretty enthusiastic group of technology early adopters. But the demise of city wide Wi-fi here leaves a skeptical eyebrow raised in our thirsty mobile computing community. Enter WiMAX… a different technology that users can buy through Clear… with wireless roaming as part of their total internet package. I have been close to this subject, since we recently completed two videos in the first US WiMAX pilot city, Baltimore.

It’s an interesting marketing subject to ponder…  how will the general Portland public perceive WiMAX? Will they understand (easily) that it is different from the failed Wifi? Yes you have to pay for it, but yikes, it is like broadband on the go, everywhere available – in a car, moving, in the woods, etc.  When we were filming the pilot participants in Baltimore, my observation was that those folks were disillusioned with the cable companies and even the DSL providers and absolutely thrilled with the ease and low cost of WiMAX. It felt like an easy sales environment as long as the word got out that it was available.

But the marketing environment here is different. In Portland, potential buyers will need to be convinced: 1. True roaming wireless is something worth paying for and 2. WiMAX is a robust technology that works better than the departed Wi-fi. The Clear campaign is certainly saturating the community, but whether it addresses the credibility issue remains to be seen.

–meg k