NOVEMBER 8, 2009, 9:10 P.M. ET Sprint, Partners to Pump $1.5 Billion Into Clearwire
By JEFFREY MCCRACKEN And DON CLARK Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704402404574524152073150702.html Sprint Nextel Corp. and its partners are preparing to pump at least $1.5 billion more into Clearwire Corp., said two people familiar with the matter, adding yet more aid to a wireless broadband firm that has struggled to build out its next-generation network. Sprint would invest $1 billion and its Clearwire joint venture partners, a group which includes Comcast Corp., Intel Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks LLC, would kick in another $500 million, said these people. Google Inc., which has been a key joint venture partner, isn't involved in the latest financing round, these people added. An announcement of the new investment could come as soon as this week. Spokespeople from Sprint, Clearwire, Comcast Time Warner Cable and Intel declined to comment. Officials from Bright House and Google weren't immediately available for comment. Sprint is Clearwire's majority shareholder and unlike its rivals, which have bet on a rival technology, Sprint's plans for a higher-speed data transmissions are heavily tied to Clearwire's success. The infusion comes about 18 months after Sprint, Intel, Comcast and other partners first put $3.2 billion into Clearwire, which is building the first so-called "4G" mobile broadband network, which moves data at very high speeds. That deal gave Sprint and the others a big ownership stake in Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire, which lost $241.4 million in the quarter ended June 30. It will report its latest quarterly results on Tuesday. Clearwire shares have traded as high as $9 this year, but tumbled to around $6.50 in recent weeks. It has about 2,100 employees. At the end of June, it had about 511,000 phone and Internet subscribers in the United States. Clearwire had in recent months been trying to attract new capital from other telecom companies such as Deutsche Telekom AG, these people said. But those efforts didn't pan out. Sprint, whose market capitalization has dwindled to just $8 billion, also hired bankers to help it raise money for a new Clearwire infusion. At one point it had shopped around an equity stake in Sprint, said one of these people. Instead, Sprint will use money from its own cash pile or raise new debt for the $1 billion investment. Founded in 2003 by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, Clearwire was restructured in 2008 as part of a deal that combined the company with former Sprint operations and included the first cash infusion from Sprint and its partners. The partners have been working to roll out a wireless broadband network across the U.S. Their plans are based on WiMax, a technology heavily promoted by Intel that is a longer-range cousin to Wi-Fi, the wireless technology built into most laptop computers. That effort has been costly and taken longer than expected. The competition also is stiff; some consumers have been adopting technologies based on third-generation, or 3G, cellular networks offered by rivals such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone PLC. WiMax backers say it offers faster download speeds than 3G offerings and has a head start of two years or so over a comparable "fourth-generation" technology favored by many cellular carriers known as LTE, for long-term evolution. Clearwire now markets its service in markets that include Las Vegas, Baltimore, Atlanta and Portland, Ore. Partners such as Sprint and Comcast also resell Clearwire's service under their own brands. Earlier this year, Clearwire hired William Morrow, an industry veteran with experience at Vodafone and other companies, as its chief executive. -- ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
