clearwire

Sprint Nextel said today that it will begin offering 4G services on a wholesale basis, allowing other companies and smaller carriers to resell a 4G connection to their customers.

As part of the announcement, Sprint said it would offer up the HTC Detail, which is similar to the Evo Shift smartphone, and a Sierra Wireless data card to companies looking to resell 4G services. The company said it plans to offer additional devices to its wholesale customers in the coming months.

The move is designed to broaden the reach and potential customer base for 4G, which is sold through Sprint … Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--Sprint Nextel will provide more details on its 4G plans in the fall, Chief Executive Dan Hesse said during a meeting with reporters at the company's headquarters here today.

Sprint was originally scheduled to provide an update on its 4G plans by the middle of the year. However, Hesse, speaking to a roundtable of reporters today, provided the later date.

"All your questions will be answered then," Hesse said.

Questions have mounted about Sprint's 4G strategy as Verizon Wireless has raced past Sprint with more markets. T-Mobile USA has covered nearly its entire … Read more

There's no doubt that Clearwire faces a cash crunch among many other challenges as it tries to build its nationwide 4G WiMax network. But will the company be able to weather the storm and stay afloat?

That's the big question that investors and Clearwire's customers are asking as the company continues to look for more funding to support its network expansion and deal with growing competition. In November, Clearwire said it might not have enough cash to keep its network running through the middle of 2011. Since then it's taken on more debt and settled a … Read more

Clearwire has signed a deal with wireless equipment supplier Ericsson to manage its 4G WiMax network in an effort to save on operating costs.

Today, the company announced the new seven-year deal, which entails Ericsson managing Clearwire's day-to-day network operations. As part of the deal, about 700 Clearwire employees will become Ericsson employees in the middle of 2011. Ericsson will be responsible for all the network engineering, operations, and maintenance of the network. But Clearwire will retain control of strategy decisions for the future of the network.

Ericsson, which sells the equipment used to power wireless networks around the … Read more

Sprint Nextel may be considering a hosting deal that could help it and its close partner Clearwire deploy a 4G LTE network to compete with rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Earlier this week, the blog Fierce Wireless reported that Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse said at a JP Morgan conference in Boston that Sprint may consider striking hosting deals that would allow other wireless providers to use some of Sprint's excess network capacity. In exchange, Sprint would get access to additional spectrum.

"This could be a source of additional spectrum or capacity," the blog quoted Hesse as saying. "But we haven't made any decisions on hosting."

The blog went on to report that Hesse acknowledged that Sprint has been talking to Clearwire about a network hosting deal.

"It also has been reported that there are some discussions between Clearwire and Sprint about the potential of Sprint hosting some spectrum. That's a potential that could happen. It's more economical for Clearwire to host it vs. building a separate network," Hesse was quoted as saying.

Sprint may be talking to other companies about hosting services and sharing spectrum. The Wall Street Journal and blog BroadbandReports have also reported recently that Sprint has been talking to LightSquared, which is building a nationwide LTE network, about a hosting arrangement as well. … Read more

Clearwire, Comcast, and Sprint have jointly announced an expansion of the Clearwire 4G network today. The network now includes much of the greater Bay Area. The communities are San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Sunnyvale, San Ramon, Fremont, San Leandro, Newark, Campbell, Daly City, Pleasanton, Danville, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Hayward, Walnut Creek, Mountain View, Cupertino, Milpitas, Pleasant Hill, Santa Clara, and San Bruno. The Bay Area 4G coverage is said to cover around 4.4 million people.

Clearly, this is an advantage for those who want to use 4G devices from the aforementioned carriers. Sprint's 4G phones include the … Read more

Clearwire's revenue grew as it added loads of new subscribers in the first quarter of 2011. But the wireless company's losses widened as it spent more to grow its business.

Clearwire, which is building a nationwide 4G wireless network, today reported losses of $227 million, or 93 cents a share in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $94 million, or 47 cents a share, during the first quarter of 2010.

But revenue more than doubled to $242 million as the company added a record 1.8 million subscribers during the quarter. It now serves a total … Read more

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire have settled their dispute over wholesale pricing, the companies announced today. Sprint uses the nationwide Clearwire network for its 4G WiMax wireless broadband service.

Under the new deal Clearwire will receive at least $1 billion from Sprint in 2011 and 2012. The minimum 4G usage commitment for this year is $300 million and $550 million next year. Sprint will pay $175 million in pre-payment for the service that will be used later this year and beyond.

The companies also worked out an agreement for devices that use both Sprint's 3G network and Clearwire's 4G … Read more

Clearwire, which is building a nationwide WiMax network in the U.S., announced today that John Stanton will serve as interim CEO, replacing William Morrow, who resigned from the position and the company's board of directors.

Stanton is currently Clearwire's chairman of the board. Stanton is well-known in the wireless world having served as CEO of Western Wireless, which was acquired by Alltel in 2005 and is now part of Verizon Wireless. And he worked at VoiceStream Wireless, which was sold to Deutsche Telekom to form T-Mobile USA.

In addition to Morrow, Chief Commercial Officer Mike Sievert and … Read more