clearwire

Sprint Nextel inched closer to potentially providing funding to cash-strapped Clearwire in its latest debt offering.

The company said today that it plans to offer a private placement of debt due in 2018 and 2021. The uses include general expenses, network upgrades, and the repayment of existing debt. The most interesting, of course, is the potential funding of 4G WiMax provider Clearwire, which Sprint has so far been mum on.

"Securing the capital to fund those items while maintaining a solid cash balance in the case that Clearwire needs funding is important for Sprint's future," said Walter … Read more

Sprint Nextel is nearing a deal to extend its current network-sharing agreement with Clearwire to three to five years, Bloomberg reported today.

The deal would allow Sprint to tap into Clearwire's network and wireless capacity to power its own services. For Clearwire, it provides a measure of confidence in the company's long-term prospects. Sprint, meanwhile, secures another resource as it pursues its own 4G course.

Sprint said yesterday it had reached a non-binding agreement to work together on the technical specifications for Clearwire's planned upgrade to 4G LTE. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said the agreement serves as … Read more

Earlier this month, Sprint Nextel's leadership team sat dumbfounded on stage as an increasingly contentious audience of investors questioned the company's strategy of pursuing its own 4G network alone.

The investor presentation, which came mere days after the unveiling of the iPhone 4S, was among the most raucous in recent memory. The agitation only grew when the executives refused to talk about the financial impact of the carrying the iPhone, which came at a hefty price. The meeting ended with the team, led by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, making a beeline for the exit.

"What we regret … Read more

Sprint Nextel posted a narrower third-quarter loss as customer growth improved ahead of the company getting the Apple iPhone.

The country's third-largest wireless provider reported a third-quarter loss of $301 million, or 10 cents a share, narrower than its year-earlier loss of $911 million, or 30 cents a share. Revenue rose 2 percent to $8.33 billion.

Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected the company to lose 22 cents a share on revenue of $8.38 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

More importantly, Sprint kept pace on its path to winning back its most valuable customers. The company … Read more

Sprint Nextel doesn't yet have its own 4G LTE network up and running, but that hasn't stopped it from already talking up plans for the next iteration of LTE.

The wireless provider said it plans to deploy LTE-Advanced technology after rolling out its LTE network next year, according to Fierce Wireless. Speaking at the 4G World conference in Chicago today, Iyad Tarazi, Sprint's vice president of network development and engineering, said it would occur in the first half of 2013.

LTE-Advanced is a faster version of LTE and what the International Telecommunications Union originally deemed a true … Read more

Clearwire released decent preliminary third-quarter results in an effort to show it still has some fight left in it.

Clearwire was likely under pressure to show something positive as it has been fighting the perception that its largest wholesale customer and shareholder, Sprint Nextel, was abandoning it. Clearwire's stock has been taken a beating since Friday, when Sprint unveiled its own 4G path, in which Clearwire played a minor role. Clearwire currently supplies Sprint with its 4G WiMax network.

"We view the announcement as favorable and believe the results should assuage near-term bankruptcy concerns for the company," … Read more

Sprint Nextel plans to shed more light on the financial impact of selling the Apple iPhone during its next quarterly report.

The company had always planned to provide more guidance regarding the iPhone, Chief Executive Dan Hesse told CNET during an event at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications show in San Diego. With the iPhone 4S not even out yet, he didn't believe it would be fair to provide any estimate so soon.

Sprint and Hesse caught a lot of flack on Friday when the company laid out its own 4G plans. Investors at the conference bristled as Hesse … Read more

Sprint Nextel said today it plans to aggressively roll out its own 4G LTE service next year as it looks to avoid falling behind in the network race.

Sprint plans to launch its next-generation network to cover 120 million people by the end of next year, and wrap up with coverage of 250 million people by the end of 2013. The company confirmed that 15 LTE devices will be available next year, with the first to launch by midsummer, CNET previously reported.

"There will be an aggressive rollout of LTE," Steve Elfman, head of network operations for Sprint, … Read more

Sprint Nextel plans to cover more than 120 million people with its own 4G LTE network by the end of 2012 and more than 250 million people a year later, CNET has learned.

In addition, Sprint said it expects to launch 15 LTE-compatible devices next year.

As previously reported by CNET, Sprint is building its own 4G LTE network, which will launch next year. The company has been relying on Clearwire to provide it with 4G WiMax technology, but has opted as well to go forward with its own 4G LTE path.

As part of Sprint's 4G lineup for … Read more