Sprint to Buy Remaining Ownership of Clearwire?
Mikel Robinson on August 3, 2010
| 18 comments
The writing has been on the wall almost since its inception, with a trail of clues leading from Wall Street to Overland Park, KS all the way west to Kirkland, WA, the days of Clearwire operating its own network under its own board of directors and, most importantly, under its own symbol on the ticker may be drawing close to an abrupt and uneventful halt. Sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that Sprint Executives, most particularly Dan Hesse are disappointed at Clearwire’s Network Expansion and deployment as well as its overall strategy. Not a very desirable choice of words as Clearwire is due for another round of funding here by the end of the year. It is expected that Sprint will use over $1 Billion in cash to provide for this round of aid and debt obligations – however, with a disappointing network Sprint could very well use its cash to simply buy out the remainder of Clearwire’s ownership in the company. Dan Hesse himself, in a recent earnings call with Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citi Group and others is slow to add fuel to the speculative fire:
“I get a lot of questions about Clearwire and about Sprint’s network RFP. On the topic of Clearwire, we have an advantage in the aligned ownership interests we share with the cable partners, Intel and Google and we benefit from the many contributions they have brought to the table and we benefit from the resale of 4G services… As in the past, any strategic or funding decisions about Clearwire must be a collective decision among the strategic investors and the Clearwire Board. Beyond that, we are not going to comment on the ongoing media speculation.”
That’s CEO speak for “DROP IT, I’m not here to degrade Clearwire’s already poor stock position”. It makes no difference whether Clearwire decides to sell NOW or LATER, their position has been (from the beginning) to acquire as many customers as possible in an effort to be taken over by a carrier that doesn’t have its own spectrum (think Comcast OR of course Sprint). However the recent success in the new Clear markets should slow the speculation for now as Clearwire is on pace to hit corporate metrics and surpass 2 million customers by the close of business 2010.
Tagged as:
Citi Group,
Clearwire,
Goldman Sachs,
JP Morgan Chase,
network,
Sprint,
Wall Street
Mikel has written 7 articles for GoingWimax.
Mikel Robinson is a telecom expert based out of the Northeast. His specialty comes from many years in retail and wholesale telecommunications management. He is available for questions or consulting at mikel@goingwimax.com or 215-259-8482
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
U guys read waay too much n2 things or should I say rather that u speculate on your limited knowledge and what “spmebody” who knows somebody says/speculates. Ofcourse, anybody can be bought out in this day and time as it is an attractiv deal for both parties involved. The one selling or being bought b/c they will receive a huge payday & most likely be set 4 life….easily. But I work with Clear and I have a close friend as well as relatives who work upper management Sprint. There are no plans to buy Clearwire and no plans for Clear to sell. Clear is doing fine. The network is growing at a steady rate as well as the customer base. Stop filling peoples head with your wishes and/or unfounded speculation. YOU PEOPLE…….!
U guys read waay too much n2 things or should I say rather that u speculate on your limited knowledge and what “spmebody” who knows somebody says/speculates. Ofcourse, anybody can be bought out in this day and time as it is an attractiv deal for both parties involved. The one selling or being bought b/c they will receive a huge payday & most likely be set 4 life….easily. But I work with Clear and I have a close friend as well as relatives who work upper management Sprint. There are no plans to buy Clearwire and no plans for Clear to sell. Clear is doing fine. The network is growing at a steady rate as well as the customer base. Stop filling peoples head with your wishes and/or unfounded speculation. YOU PEOPLE…….!
U guys read waay too much n2 things or should I say rather that u speculate on your limited knowledge and what “spmebody” who knows somebody says/speculates. Ofcourse, anybody can be bought out in this day and time as it is an attractiv deal for both parties involved. The one selling or being bought b/c they will receive a huge payday & most likely be set 4 life….easily. But I work with Clear and I have a close friend as well as relatives who work upper management Sprint. There are no plans to buy Clearwire and no plans for Clear to sell. Clear is doing fine. The network is growing at a steady rate as well as the customer base. Stop filling peoples head with your wishes and/or unfounded speculation. YOU PEOPLE…….!
U guys read waay too much n2 things or should I say rather that u speculate on your limited knowledge and what “spmebody” who knows somebody says/speculates. Ofcourse, anybody can be bought out in this day and time as it is an attractiv deal for both parties involved. The one selling or being bought b/c they will receive a huge payday & most likely be set 4 life….easily. But I work with Clear and I have a close friend as well as relatives who work upper management Sprint. There are no plans to buy Clearwire and no plans for Clear to sell. Clear is doing fine. The network is growing at a steady rate as well as the customer base. Stop filling peoples head with your wishes and/or unfounded speculation. YOU PEOPLE…….!
U guys read waay too much n2 things or should I say rather that u speculate on your limited knowledge and what “spmebody” who knows somebody says/speculates. Ofcourse, anybody can be bought out in this day and time as it is an attractiv deal for both parties involved. The one selling or being bought b/c they will receive a huge payday & most likely be set 4 life….easily. But I work with Clear and I have a close friend as well as relatives who work upper management Sprint. There are no plans to buy Clearwire and no plans for Clear to sell. Clear is doing fine. The network is growing at a steady rate as well as the customer base. Stop filling peoples head with your wishes and/or unfounded speculation. YOU PEOPLE…….!
I have Clearwire and they just plain suck!
I have Clearwire and they just plain suck!
I have Clearwire and they just plain suck!
I have Clearwire and they just plain suck!
I have Clearwire and they just plain suck!
You have Clearwire, not 4G Clear.
Just wait a little longer, and your speeds will be doubled.
I hope Sprint does buy Clearwire out, I have their service (sorry to say) and its bad. What is more annoying is the commercials they show on TV. They claim that you could be driving around and not get cut off or that you could be streaming with no problem. Clearly ( no point intended) a bunch of lies. True they have good speeds but they need more coverage. Unless you live close to a tower, good luck!! im just waiting for my contract to end.
Clearwire, Clear , what ever you want to call it, it sucks.
Where do you live?
I hope Sprint does buy Clearwire out, I have their service (sorry to say) and its bad. What is more annoying is the commercials they show on TV. They claim that you could be driving around and not get cut off or that you could be streaming with no problem. Clearly ( no point intended) a bunch of lies. True they have good speeds but they need more coverage. Unless you live close to a tower, good luck!! im just waiting for my contract to end.
Clearwire, Clear , what ever you want to call it, it sucks.
Where do you live?
This just in, Clear was purchased by Spring today… Deal is closed, some few hundred people in the Las Vegas area will looking for new jobs come 60 days. Wishful thinking Promisedwon? I think their wishes came true.