Fresh on the heels of a potential massive cash infusion from Japan’s Softbank, Sprint announced earlier this morning that it plans to buy out the founder of Clearwire, Craig McCaw, with a huge $100 million check. This transaction will make Sprint the majority shareholder, bumping its ownership in Clearwire up to 50.3% from 48.1%.
This is great news for both Sprint and Clearwire, which have been sharing networks and resources since Clearwire’s WiMAX network first launched back in 2010. Clearwire has massive spectrum holdings which it has been unable to effectively utilize due to a lack of cash, and Sprint now has the cash to start taking advantage of that spectrum with LTE.
This news might indicate a change of heart on Sprint’s part, as well, since Sprint has shown a reluctance to work very closely with Clearwire since it started building out its own LTE network. But with Softbank soon to control Sprint, that might be changing very quickly.
In any case, it will certainly be very interesting to see what comes out of this financial transaction, including whether or not this will help Sprint’s future LTE plans.
[LA Times] Thanks, Bill!
I maybe mistaken but I thought that Clearwire used Wimaxx technology which differs from Sprints LTE. How will this benefit any of us that jumped ship from Wimaxx and are patiently awaiting LTE.
why would sprint want anything to do with a trashy like clear, their internet service i crap at least in my opinion….
I think it’s that Clearwire has other spectrum as well but couldn’t use it because they didn’t have the cash to generate the tech. Some of it could most likely be used by Sprint to help out the LTE. The Wimax spectrum is crap though.
Phillip,
it is all about gaining control of the 120mhz
of spectrum Clearwater owns. Which is a huge
amount . I might be wrong but I believe if you
Added Verizon and AT&T spectrum holdings together?
Together they still wouldn’t have as much spectrum as Clearwire?
Although there is a abundance of 2500-2600mhz spectrum Clearwire owns. It is not as desired as the lower band frequencies(vzw, at&t) owns
because of how far less the upper ban frequency(CW) will travel.
Please give us better indoor coverage Sprint, it takes me 10min to watch a 30 second clip at work on the lowest resolution.
Should we hold onto our Evo3D’s for when Sprint switches back to WiMax?
Actually clearwire had just started this month building itsown LTE network.
Can the spectrum Clear uses for WiMax be converted over to LTE for future use?
I’ve said it before, I’m ok with all this, as long as LTE doesn’t suffer. That should be their main priority right now.
Let me get this straight.
Sprint paid $100 million for a 2.2% stake in a company?
That values the entire company at $4,545,454,545!
So if Clearwire creates its own lte network and sprints adopts that, does this mean that all of us lte early adopters will be left high and dry again like the old wimax crap. because if clearwire’s lte uses a different spectrum then the existing radios in our phones now will not function on a new system. even though sprint will swear up and down that “your existing phone will work on the new system” at least that’s what they told me when I had my 3d and they announced lte
wow
Sounds like we need some more info.
As a Sprint customer for almost 3 years, I’ve been extremely disappointed in the last couple of months with the connectivity and service, after renewing my contract. Since being (more or less) forced to buy a new Galaxy SIII phone with all the LTE promises of super speeds, the fact is that it was not an ‘upgrade’ as Sprint called it. I can now only get 3G service half the time (if data connectivity isn’t dropped completely), there is no LTE within 60 miles and who knows when there will ever be, and a 10 minute call has a 70% chance of dropping at least twice. I do not live out in the middle of nowhere either.) Several of us, in different states, have started to mumble about the option of dropping Sprint for not accurately representing what we were really getting for renewing our 2 year contracts, and having to waste an EVO 4G (which was superb, imho) to get a new LTE phone that gets no LTE or 4G.
Please Sprint, we are customers wondering whether we got fooled by empty promises…and have now been sold off to a Japanese company!? How about an explanation. I feel a bit like I got ‘stung’.
I know I’m preaching the same thing as everyone else, but here it is again. Coverage has been awful recently and I expect more for my money. Whatever their plan is, it better involve fixing the network!