That WiMAX is gaining momentum in the US as the country’s first commercially available ‘4G’ (fourth-generation) mobile data wireless technology is apparently evident from the fact that network operator Clearwire has added as many as 19 cities to its roster of forthcoming 4G deployments.

At the company’s Wednesday conference call about its first-quarter financial results, Clearwire said that these 19 cities include - Merced, Modesto, Stockton, and Visalia, California; Wilmington, Delaware; Daytona, Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Rochester and Syracuse, New York; Eugene, Oregon; Nashville, Tennessee; and Yakima and Tri-Cities, Washington.

In addition, Clearwire also said that by the year-end, the company will carry two new WiMAX-capable smartphones – an Android-powered 3G/4G/WiFi device from Samsung; and an HTC handset with no specified platform that will certainly not be the EVO 4G.

Already, growth of Clearwire, in terms of subscribers, has soared notably – with the company’s new additions of subscribers during the first quarter being nearly 283,000; a figure that is more than the total new additions for the whole of last year. As a result of this whopping 94 percent growth, the total number of Clearwire subscribers reached up to 971,000 by March-end.

Commenting on Clearwire’s growth, the company CEO Bill Morrow said: “Customer demand for 4G services is truly making 2010 the year of mobile broadband, as always-on true mobile broadband keeps people connected to the information, services and applications that matter most.”