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Clearwire

Type	Public (NASDAQ: CLWR)
Founded	October 2003
Founder(s)	Craig McCaw
Headquarters	Kirkland, Washington, USA
Key people	Benjamin G. Wolff (Co-Founder, Co-Chairman), Bill Morrow (CEO)
Industry	Internet IPv4
Operating income	▼ US$-493.078 Million (2008) [1]
Net income	▼ US$-432.626 Million (2008) [2]
Employees	2,865
Website	www.clearwire.com

Clearwire Corporation (stylized as "clearw˙re" in the logo) is a wireless internet service provider (WISP) serving markets in the United States, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, Denmark (with Danske Telecom), and Mexico (via MVSNet). Clearwire was founded by cellular phone pioneer Craig McCaw in October 2003^[3][4] and headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. Clearwire uses wireless technology, dubbed Pre-WiMax, transmitted from cell sites over licensed spectrum of 2.5-2.6 GHz in the U.S. and 3.5 GHz in Europe.^[5]

On May 7, 2008, Clearwire and Sprint Nextel's wireless broadband unit Xohm announced their intent to merge, combining Sprint's 4G WiMax network (Xohm) with Clearwire's existing pre-Wimax broadband network. Sprint will own 51% of the firm, with ex-Clearwire shareholders owning 27% — a consortium of Comcast, Time Warner, Intel, Google, and Bright House will invest $3.2 billion and own the balance.^[6] Clearwire and the cable companies will buy 3G mobile broadband from Sprint as MVNOs^{[citation needed]}. Clearwire/Sprint Nextel officially launched Portland, Oregon as the first market using the new service. It is branded simply "Clear".^[7] Clearwire is now implementing WiMAX 802.16e networks in many markets, with the largest to date being the greater metropolitan Chicago market.^[8]

On March 9, 2009 Clearwire named Bill Morrow as CEO, succeeding Benjamin Wolff, who became co-Chairman with Craig McCaw. Morrow, 49, stepped down as CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Before that, he held a number of senior positions at Vodafone.^[9]

Services

In the U.S. Clearwire offers plans with downlink speeds of 1.5 Mbit/s, 3.0 Mbit/s, and 6.0 Mbit/s, with an uplink speed of 1.0 Mbit/s.

In Ireland, Clearwire offers 512 kbit/s, 1 Mbit/s or 2 Mbit/s download / 128 kbit/s upload.

In Denmark, Clearwire offers downlink speeds of 1.0 Mbit/s, 2.0 Mbit/s and 3.0 Mbit/s, with an uplink speed of 256 kbit/s.

In Belgium, Clearwire offers downlink speeds of 1.0 Mbit/s, 2.0 Mbit/s and 3.0 Mbit/s, with an uplink of speed up to 256 kbit/s^[10]

Clearwire also offers its own Voice over IP service, with support for T.38 fax communication, in some areas for an additional monthly fee.^[11] As with any ISP, the listed transfer rates are under ideal conditions; actual results vary greatly depending on factors such as service load, distance, and obstacles between the transmitter and receiver. Another factor is that available bandwidth is shared between users in a given radio sector, so if there are many active users in a single sector, each may receive reduced bandwidth. Most plans require 1-2 year contract. Any contract cancellation after 7 days of service results in a $220 cancellation fee for Expedience Internet Service and $120 cancellation fee for the CLEAR Wimax Service.^[12]

Technology

In pre-wimax markets, Clearwire uses the Motorola Licensed Point-to-Multipoint Expedience system, which is part of the MOTOwi4 family of products.^[13] The service is considered true Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS). Customers can choose either the Motorola Expedience Residential Subscriber Unit (RSU) or the Motorola Expedience PC Card in both the PC Card and ExpressCard form factors. The RSU incorporates automatic adaptive modulation for increased throughput and network capacity. Users are connected to broadband speeds at indoor locations throughout the entire system's coverage area. The unit functions as an Ethernet bridge (Layer 2) device, for single host or SOHO LAN applications interfacing a standard Ethernet 10base-T RJ-45 connector. The PC Card incorporates the same automatic adaptive modulation for increased throughput and network capacity with the added portability of a laptop CardBus card. The service is not unique to Clearwire. Several other companies throughout the world use this same product line from Motorola. For instance: Inukshuk Wireless Partnership of Canada, Beamspeed & Commspeed of Arizona, AccessTEL of Bangladesh, and Unitel of Guatemala all use the same type of service and equipment.

4G WiMAX build out

Branded Clear, the company, on January 6, 2009, unveiled Portland, Oregon as its first 4G WiMAX wireless broadband market, enabling consumers and businesses to access the Internet, wirelessly, at broadband speeds.^[14] Clear residential modems as well as USB mobile devices offer promised speeds of 3-6 Mbps, while actually providing much higher speeds in some areas. Upload speeds are capped at 1 mbps.

Following up on its Portland launch, the company, on March 5, 2009, announced that it would expand its 4G WiMAX network to 9 additional markets in 2009 including: Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas / Fort Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia, and Seattle with additional cities to be added in the future.^[15]

Clearwire investor, Comcast, also plans to resell Clearwire’s 4G mobile broadband service in Portland to bundle with its cable, home phone, and residential Internet services.^[16]

Advertising

Like internet telephone company Vonage, Clearwire has run advertising and promotional campaigns which have included airline tickets and low introductory rates offered to new customers with a contractual agreement.

History

The forerunner of Clearwire was an Arlington, Texas-based company then known as Clearwire Technologies, Inc. (owned by Clearwire Holdings). Clearwire Technologies was formed by a number of investors including Edward "Rusty" Rose, once a co-managing partner of the Texas Rangers. Clearwire Technologies raised at least $100 million and used it to acquire spectrum allocated to various educational institutions in the Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) band.^[17]

Clearwire Corp. as it is now known was born when Craig McCaw's holding company, Flux LLC, acquired Clearwire Holdings in March, 2004. McCaw installed executives from his McCaw Cellular as the new Clearwire Corp. leadership.^[17]

Clearwire has grown from 1,000 customers in September 2004 to more than 443,000 customers across its markets, as of May 2008.^[18] Clearwire claimed in September 2006 that 20% of its markets have more than 10% penetration of households covered.

Clearwire took a $900 million infusion of capital from Intel and Motorola in July 2006, shortly after pulling its IPO.^[19] Clearwire's equipment manufacturer Nextnet Wireless was sold to Motorola as part of the exchange.^[20] This investment by the two industry giants has been reported as an attempt to accelerate the development and deployment of WiMAX networks worldwide.

An unspecified source claims that AT&T is/was selling Clearwire a slice of 2.5 GHz spectrum for about $300 million. The spectrum covers markets in the southeast of the U.S. and used to belong to BellSouth. The spectrum solidifies Clearwire's position as the second largest holder of 2.5 GHz spectrum after Sprint Nextel. AT&T had to sell the spectrum as a condition of its merger with BellSouth.^{[citation needed]}

Clearwire and Sprint Nextel announced a partnership in July 2007 to accelerate deployment of WiMAX technology across the US.^[21] The deal was to include a swap of spectrum and markets between the two companies, as well as providing roaming capabilities for customers traveling between the companies' networks. The partnership was terminated at the end of 2007.^[22] In 2008, Sprint's new CEO Dan Hesse started serious discussions about forming a joint venture between the two companies in the hopes of bringing in outside funding from Google, Intel, and Best Buy.^[23] On March 26, 2008 an anonymous source stated that Sprint and Clearwire may get as much as $1 billion from Comcast and $500 million from Time Warner Cable in financial backing.^[24]

Clearwire filed for its initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission in May 2006 and went public Thursday, March 8, 2007. The company's underwriters included Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase. Trading began March 8, 2007 under the ticker symbol "CLWR" on the Nasdaq. Clearwire offered 24 million shares at $25 a share, and raised approximately US$600 million.^[25] Before the Sprint merger, Craig McCaw was the largest shareholder of the company with a majority of the shares.^[26]

Criticism and legal action

In 2005, Clearwire drew criticism from phone operator Vonage, who claimed the network, among others, was blocking their services. While Clearwire did not respond to the charges, subsequent testing showed that Vonage calls were being connected over the Clearwire network.^[27]

In April, 2009, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Clearwire. The complaint alleges that the company's advertisements are deceptive in their promises of fast, reliable internet access, and of internet-based telephone service that's superior to conventional land-line service. More specifically, it alleges that consumers of the firm's internet access service frequently experience speeds that are as slow as those available with a dial-up modem, and that both internet access and internet telephone service are often entirely unavailable. The lawsuit also claims that when consumers try to cancel their contracts for these or any other reasons, the company charges a pro-rata early termination fee of up to $220, and that this fee cannot be lawfully imposed or collected. Clearwire has declined to comment on these allegations, citing corporate policy.^[28][29]

See also

• Wireless networking
• Mobile broadband

References

External links

• Clearwire United States homepage (company site & Clearwire pre-WiMAX service home)
• CLEAR homepage (U.S. WiMAX service home)
• Clearwire Ireland homepage
• Clearwire Spain homepage
• Clearwire Belgium homepage

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