Clearwire plans to establish a 20 square mile WiMax network in Silicon Valley this summer so that developers in the high-tech hotbed can create new services that take advantage of the high-speed broadband network. Service will be offered free to a limited number of developers, with Clearwire working with Intel, Google and Cisco on the project.

Dubbed the "WiMax Innovation Network," Clearwire said that the network is a forerunner to a commercially available WiMax service that will launch in the Bay Area next year.

Clearwire -- facing competition from a technology known as long term evolution -- plans to launch its 4G network in more than 80 cities next year. Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and other markets will get service this year, with Portland residents already having access to the network.

Speaking at the Cable Show in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Clearwire Chairman Craig McCaw said that his upstart is trying to break the monopolies of AT&T and Verizon.

"We're trying to do something incredibly different from what [the wireless industry does] today, and what we believe they'll do [tomorrow] because of all their legacy constraints," McCaw said, according to a report in PC Magazine. "We want to jump to where we think the market is going." More coverage here.