Clearwire Plans Dozens of Leases Around Town
By Laura Kusisto October 18, 2010 10:57 pm
reprints
The city’s terrible cell phone reception should get less so, or at least it might if Clearwire keeps its promise. The high-speed wireless provider has signed a dozen leases in the tristate area, including a number in New York.
The Seattle-based company began its aggressive rollout in June, when it signed a 2,000-square-foot lease at 865 Broadway in Union Square. The newest leases are part of a broad expansion plan, which includes up to 50 more sites in New York. Many of them are slated to open in the next six to nine months, according to The Real Deal, which reported news of the expansion.
The locations will be scattered throughout midtown and the Upper West Side, as well as Jamaica, Queens, and Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. They range in size from under 1,000 square feet to 2,000 square feet.
The international market for Clearwire’s high-speed wireless products is expected to double by 2014, according to some estimates, driven by increasing smart-phone use and the fact that people are pretty fed up with getting dropped calls in the middle of the city.
On the other hand, Clearwire is happy about the reception here, so to speak. “The company is thrilled with the reception we have received from our rollout in the Philadelphia and D.C. markets,” said Geza Degall, vice president for real estate. “We anticipate bigger and better from New York.”
Northwest Atlantic brokered the deal.
