"The cellular guys have been able to do it because voice has been paying the bills ... and it's been 20 years since the cellular people came out," said In-Stat analyst Allen Nogee. Despite a joint-venture deal that brought together $14.5 billion from a consortium of manufacturers and service providers, Nogee isn't sure Sprint and Clearwire will be able to build out a strong national footprint given today's credit markets.

However, the rates and terms for the service are fairly attractive and could put pressure on competitors over time, analysts said. In addition to the main home and mobile options, customers can buy service for any two devices for $65 per month, or $50 per month for the life of their Xohm membership, if they sign up during an introductory period. And 24 hours of service is available for $10, an option that may be attractive for travelers who find themselves in a Xohm coverage area with a WiMax-equipped Intel laptop.

Monthly plans include a personal Web portal with Google Maps and Gmail services, as well as 5G bytes of storage for personal content that can be accessed from a browser. A McAfee Privacy Service keeps information safe online and lets parents control what their children access on the Internet, according to Sprint.

"They're clearly trying to undercut some of the mobility players using 3G, and they clearly are going after homes, not just mobile devices," said Avi Greengart, of Current Analysis.

The service has some advantages over cellular plans that may be significant for some customers. For one thing, Xohm has no term contracts. Customers who want continuing, postpaid service will have their credit cards billed each month until their service is cancelled, but they won't have to commit in advance to keeping Xohm for a year or two years, according to Sprint.

The company is promising "an open Internet business model" set apart from the typical "walled gardens" of mobile data services. Xohm is designed for access to the full Internet and any application, on devices that don't have to be rigorously reviewed by the carrier. By contrast, Verizon's 3G data services restrict use to e-mail, Internet browsing and intranet access.

There will be no hard caps on the amount of data subscribers can download in a month, said Xohm spokesman John Polivka. But in its terms of service, Sprint says it may "limit the bandwidth available for certain bandwidth intensive applications or protocols, such as file sharing."