Clearwire: Average User Consumes 7 GB per Month

Last Friday GigaOM published an interview with Clearwire’s chief commercial officer Mike Sievert, who tells the Web site that the average WiMAX mobile user consumes more than 7 GB of data a month. (See the video interview with Sievert after the jump.)

Mobile is defined as those accessing the Interent from laptops and dongles outside the home. Despite this narrow definition, it’s still a surprising amount of data, particularly during a time when everyone is focused on scarce spectrum resources, and when mobile operators are struggling to meet consumer demand for bandwidth.

Sievert revealed that it costs the company “somewhere in the mid-$20 range” per person to build out its WiMAX network. In contrast, analyst Chris King at investment bank Stifel Nicholas pegs the per-person cost near $20 for Verizon’s rival LTE network build.

When asked about its competitiveness with LTE, Sievert maintains that Clearwire has the upper hand. The WiMAX provider has deep spectrum resources— about 150 Mhz in many markets, while the other major carriers claim just two-thirds or less of that amount. Clearwire also is built on all-IP infrastructure which Sievert credits for its ability to cheaply deliver bits and add additional capacity.

Sievert also said that the Clearwire will to introduce mobile WiMAX handsets in 2011, giving the company another competitive advantage. The handsets will use Sprint’s 3G network for voice and will transition to VoIP sometime in the future.

Related posts:

1. Average Smartphone User Consumes 298 MB per Month
2. Clearwire to Conduct LTE Trials
3. Clearwire Launches Pay-as-you-go WiMAX Service
4. Sprint Nextel and Clearwire Partner on WiMAX Network
5. T-Mobile Explores Partnership with Clearwire