Clearwire pulling out of Alaska Internet market

Existing customers can continue to use the service but won't be able to change their plans, a spokesman said.

Based in Bellevue, Wash., Clearwire began offering broadband wireless here about six years ago, serving Anchorage, Juneau and the Mat-Su. The company's green-and-white logo became a familiar sight at mall kiosks and roadside storefronts as customers paid $32 or more for monthly Internet access.

Now Clearwire is leaping out of the Alaska Internet competition.

In a November letter to existing customers, the company announced it will no longer sign up Alaskans for new accounts.

Clearwire is saying little about what prompted the decision. The company took similar steps in other markets, including parts of Idaho, Minnesota and Wisconsin, said spokesman Chris Comes.

Owned in part by Sprint Nextel, Clearwire is battling to fund upgrades to its wireless infrastructure in the Lower 48 and announced plans this week to make a public stock offering of $300 million.

Alaska customers who wish to cancel their service may face early cancellation fees, Comes said.

On Wednesday, a woman in a gray Scion parked in front of the Clearwire store on Denali Street in Midtown Anchorage, only to find the blinds drawn and a piece of paper listing a toll-free customer service number taped to the door.

The driver was speaking slowly into a cell phone. "I want. To talk. To your manager."

Russ Baker, a pilot, said he and his wife are longtime Clearwire customers who were generally happy with the service at their upper Hillside home. "It was cost-effective and reliable," he said.

But when the connection was abruptly interrupted Sunday night, Baker wondered if the company had withdrawn from Anchorage completely.

"I think they're on the ropes and they pulled the plug on the market in Alaska," Baker said in a phone interview from Moose's Tooth, where he was using the pizzeria's wireless to check emails.

Comes, the Clearwire spokesman, said the company has no plans to end service for existing customers.

Many Clearwire subscribers in Alaska received a book-sized modem that used cell towers to provide wireless service. That older infrastructure pre-dates the company's current 4G technology, which the company calls "WiMax."

Meantime, Verizon Wireless is building a network engineering building in Midtown following a March announcement that it planned to enter the Alaska market with 4G service of its own.

Comes said that development played no role in Clearwire's plans.

"It had no impact on our decision in the marketplace and we are glad to continue to support our current customers that we do have in the Alaska marketplace," Comes said.

Verizon spokesman Scott Charlston declined to say when the company -- which will neighbor Alaska Communications buildings in Midtown -- plans to began offering services in Alaska.