Clearwire, the wireless broadband company started by billionaire cell phone pioneer Craig McCaw, raised $600 million in cash Thursday when it debuted on the Nasdaq.
The company's stock shot up 9 percent to $27.25 a share when the market opened Thursday, but it fell to $25.42 by midday, still a 1.68 percent gain over the $25 price tag set by its underwriters, which include Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to help the company expand its footprint and acquire more spectrum. The company will likely bid in the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction that the Federal Communications Commission is required to start no later than January 28, 2008.
Clearwire is using a packet technology called WiMax to build fixed wireless broadband networks and mobile wireless networks throughout the world. It has already deployed its network in 34 U.S. markets and has just under 200,000 subscribers. It also has roughly 22,000 international subscribers.
The company has yet to turn a profit, reporting in its latest filings that for 2006 it lost $284 million on revenue of $100 million. Still, Wall Street has seemed optimistic about Clearwire's plans. Part of this could be because McCaw is a legend in the cellular industry, having grown Cellular Communications into the first nationwide mobile carrier in the U.S. In 1997, he sold the business to AT&T for $11.4 billion. AT&T Wireless was subsequently spun off by the old AT&T. It was later acquired by Cingular Communications, which is now owned by the new AT&T.
Google creates an animated doodle that features a boy, a girl, Google's search engine, and a jump rope. But might there be darker, more analytical, more troubling interpretations to this tale?
The Silicon Valley online payments startup grew by 1,000 percent last year and is hopeful it can repeat that level of growth this year. To do that, it's had to move away from its early friends-and-family roots and embrace small businesses.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
Join the conversation