At first blush, it seems kind of strange for a national wireless broadband company to pick a Southern Oregon community as one of its early markets.

But later today, Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire will begin its service in parts of Medford, Central Point, Jacksonville, Phoenix and White City.

Its bandwidth, carried in similar fashion to cell phone signals, will compete against landline telephone provider Qwest and cable television franchise holder Charter Communications for residential high-speed Internet service.

Clearwire’s rural-market Vice President Bill Snoeberger says the Medford market fits Clearwire’s demographic checklist.

"We looked at early adoption and acceptance of new technology, the ease of gaining locations and building new (tower) sites," Snoeberger says. "We’re also looking for communities that are attracting new and diverse companies."

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Local Clearwire General Manager Greg Theis says market research indicates 70 percent of the area’s residences don’t have broadband. Clearwire’s intent is to grow broadband usage in the area and then "get our fair share."

Clearwire launched its service in Jacksonville, Fla., in January 2003, and has added Daytona Beach as well as Abilene, Texas, and St. Cloud, Minn.

Medford is the first of three announced launches, with Stockton and Modesto in California’s San Joaquin Valley next up, giving Clearwire’s West Coast presence a distinctively Interstate-5 flavor. Snoeberger says Roseburg will enter as a separate market and already has operational signals.

Theis says the local footprint will be expanded in the near future to include northeast Medford and Eagle Point.

"The nice thing about wireless is that you don’t have to worry about building or zoning changes, you can just locate on existing towers," he says.

Clearwire’s local service comes in three tiers. The value ($29.99 for 512Kbps download and 128Kbps upload) and premium ($37.99 for 1.5Mbps download, 512Kbps upload) residential packages will both be priced at $19.99 for the first three months. The activation fee is $25. The business package, with the same connection speeds as the premium residential service, is $49.99 a month with $50 activation.

Clearwire’s service is comparable in speed and price to DSL, which is provided over copper phone lines. Both are about half the maximum speed of Charter Communication’s cable Internet connection for residential customers. All are a fraction of the speed offered at a higher cost to larger corporate customers by local fiber and microwave service Hunter Communications.

Clearwire’s service requires a modem, which rents for $4.99 a month. Clearwire’s office is at 1170 Biddle Road next to Blockbuster Video at McAndrews Road. The phone number is 245- 3000.

Clearwire’s broadband is such that customers can go anywhere where the signals are broadcast and access the Internet. Another selling point is that if users travel to other Clearwire markets, they can access the service there as well.

Even though Clearwire’s signal is beamed out from the Rogue Valley Manor, there are always pockets where signals are hampered for one reason or another.

"Even though we are non-line-of-site, our technology works similar to cellular so that foliage, topography and buildings can all get in the way" with or without signal loss, Snoeberger says. "In Abilene, Texas, our coverage area goes a lot further than it does in Medford, where there are hills, or even Jacksonville, Fla."