SearchEngineUpdate with Vanessa Zamora - 05-07-2008 Part I
Abstract: 1. Clearwire Consortium Announce Plans For WiMax Service, 2. Microsoft Breaks Ground On $280M Beijing R&D Center
Vanessa Zamora
Video Content Producer, SearchEngineWorld
5:40 pm on May 7, 2008 (utc 0)
Transcript
Wednesday May 7, 2008
Clearwire Consortium Announce Plans For WiMax Service
Sprint will join Clearwire in a partnership to form a new $14.5 billion communications company aimed at providing consumers with the fastest wireless Internet service available for cell phones and laptops using WiMax technology. WiMax is similar to WiFi in that it offers high-speed Internet access, but it could offer Web access for mobile devices at speeds up to five times faster than traditional wireless networks. Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Network will collectively invest $3.2 billion in the publicly traded company, which will take on Clearwire’s name. Sprint will own about 51 percent of the new Clearwire company. Existing Clearwire shareholders will own about 27 percent of the firm, and the new strategic investors, as a group, will own about 22 percent. The Clearwire WiMax service is expected to be built in as little as two years, however a timeline for when it will be available to users or how much it will cost has not yet been released. The consortium is seeking to beat Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless to the market.
Microsoft Breaks Ground On $280M Beijing R&D Center
Microsoft broke ground Tuesday for a new research and development center in Beijing that will house the company's growing China operations. The Microsoft R&D center is estimated to cost $280 million and is scheduled for completion in 2010. The “campus”, as its being called, will be one of Microsoft’s main R&D operations employing some 1,500 researchers in China, and will come equipped with environmentally friendly features. Microsoft eventually plans to increases the number of researchers in China to 3,000, many of which will be housed in the new Beijing R&D center.
5:40 pm on May 7, 2008 (utc 0)