We’re sick of reading stories about how the credit crunch may slow Clearwire’s WiMAX deployment, which we first questioned last fall. And since Clearwire (s CLWR) has consistently declined to comment on this particular issue, we may just have to wait until it reports quarterly results on March 5. In the meantime, we think we’ve found some indication as to which cities will get the Clear WiMAX network soonest — based on some of the company’s job listings. Most of the cities are the usual suspects, and we can’t use this to tell you any specific dates, but we welcome your thoughts and insights.
Some job openings have already been taken down. So far, job boards show expired listings for Clearwire network deployment project managers in Austin, (Texas), Ohio and Kentucky. Were those filled or taken down as part of a planned slowdown? Clearwire isn’t saying — Susan Johnson, Clearwire’s spokeswoman, emailed us the following statement, “As you pointed out, we are actively recruiting for a number of positions throughout the country. However, it’s important to note that it takes 1-2 years to build and construct a market.”
So, armed with those caveats, below is what we’ve learned from the company’s web:
- Cities with sales, RF engineers and training jobs open, indicating where serious progress is being made: Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta and Las Vegas.
- Cities hiring RF Engineers and backhaul engineers, indicating that network buildouts are in progress or soon-to-be built: San Francisco, Los Angles, Orange Country (Calif.), San Jose (Calif.) and Houston.
- Cities with openings for network deployment project managers, who will pave the way for the RF and microwave engineers to get their jobs done, indicating that service is even farther out: Denver, Detroit, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, South Chicago and Gary (Ind.)
