WiMax Internet faces Sub-prime crises to expand nationwide

 
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- For the last couple years, depending on who you asked, WiMax

was either bound for spectacular success or it was dead on arrival. Well, the wireless technology that promises faster Internet speeds has finally arrived. The city of Baltimore now has WiMax coverage and Portland, Ore. will get it in early January. More cities are expected to follow.

After some sturm and drang, the stars are finally aligning for Clearwire (CLWRD), the wireless broadband provider that is leading the WiMax charge. Earlier this month, Clearwire completed its merger with Sprint's WiMax unit. And the Kirkland, Wa.-based company, founded by telecom pioneer Craig McCaw, has secured $3.2 billion in funding from Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) and Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500), among others.The stakes are high. Mobile technology is marching toward the point where faster Internet connections are ubiquitous, so we're not just making phone calls from anywhere to anywhere but pumping huge amounts of data too. Infonetics Research estimates the WiMax market will grow to $7.7 billion in 2011

Can WiMax go nationwide and convince device-makers to go along? Clearwire will need much more than $3.2 billion from its supporters to build nationwide infrastructure, and this is a tough time to raise money. But Julie Ask, an analyst with Forrester, points to WiMax's powerful backers. "I wouldn't underestimate what they're willing to do to make this work," she said.