- Company Will Leverage Deep Spectrum Resources and
All-IP Network to Meet Long-Term Mobile Broadband
Demands
- Unmatched LTE Network Capable of Serving Current and
Future Wholesale and Retail Customers
- Initial LTE Rollout Will Target High-Demand Areas of
Current 4G Markets, Leverage Existing 4G Infrastructure for Minimal
Capital Expense
- Download Speeds Exceed 120 Mbps in Successful Network
Technology Trial
- Support for WiMAX 4G Network Technology to
Continue
Clearwire Corporation (Nasdaq:CLWR), a leading provider of 4G
wireless broadband services in the United States, today announced
its intent to add "LTE Advanced-ready" technology to its 4G
network. The announcement follows the successful completion of 4G
technology trials that achieved download speeds exceeding 120 Mbps
and demonstrated the potential of Clearwire's unmatched spectrum
advantage.
The initial implementation of Clearwire's LTE network would
target densely populated, urban areas of Clearwire's existing 4G
markets where current 4G usage demands are high. The robust all-IP
infrastructure already deployed in these markets can be leveraged
to serve the company's LTE needs, delivering significant capital
cost savings compared to a similar overlay by other carriers of an
existing 3G architecture.
"Clearwire plans to raise the bar again for mobile broadband
service in the United States," said John Stanton, Clearwire's
Chairman and interim CEO. "Our leadership in launching 4G services
forced a major change in the competitive mobile data landscape.
Now, we plan to bring our considerable spectrum portfolio to bear
to deliver an LTE network capable of meeting the future demands of
the market."
"This is the future of mobile broadband," said Dr. John Saw,
Clearwire's Chief Technology Officer. "Our extensive trial has
clearly shown that our 'LTE Advanced-ready' network design, which
leverages our deep spectrum with wide channels, can achieve far
greater speeds and capacity than any other network that exists
today. Clearwire is the only carrier with the unencumbered spectrum
portfolio required to achieve this level of speed and capacity in
the United States."
"In addition, the 2.5 GHz spectrum band in which we operate is
widely allocated worldwide for 4G deployments, enabling a
potentially robust, cost effective and global ecosystem that could
serve billions of devices," Saw added. "We anticipate that the
economies of scale derived from this global ecosystem will act as a
catalyst for the development of thousands of low-cost devices and
applications. And, since we currently support millions of customers
in the 2.5 GHz band, we know that our LTE network won't present
harmful interference issues with GPS or other sensitive spectrum
bands."
Clearwire also noted that since launching its first 4G market in
2009, video has become the largest component of the company's
overall data traffic and video traffic itself has increased more
than tenfold since 2009. The company believes that as more
video-intensive smartphones and services rise, so will the needs
for Clearwire's high-capacity 4G wholesale network.
LTE Advanced is a 4G technical standard that calls for peak
download mobile speeds of at least 100 Mbps, which far exceeds
today's commercial networks. Clearwire's LTE network will be "LTE
Advanced-ready" meaning that it will use an ultra-high-capacity
spectrum configuration that is superior to the typical
configuration of the slower, more capacity-constrained commercial
LTE network designs in the United States of today.
Clearwire's LTE implementation plan, which is subject to
additional funding, contemplates deploying Time Division Duplex
(TDD) LTE technology and reusing its flexible all-IP network
architecture and upgrading base station radios and some core
network elements, which offers significant capital savings. This
will include the use of multicarrier, or multichannel, wideband
radios that will be carrier aggregation capable. Carrier
aggregation is a key feature of LTE Advanced that will enable
Clearwire to further leverage its vast spectrum depth to create
larger "fat pipes" for deploying mobile broadband service. The
network would position Clearwire as the clear leader in 4G mobile
broadband technology, capable of serving the current and
anticipated future demands of wholesale and retail customers.
Clearwire, together with some of the largest wireless carriers
in the world, is a founding member of the Global TDD LTE Initiative
(GTI) which aims to bring together leading industry partners to
steer the TDD LTE ecosystem as a major standard in mobile broadband
technology and drive the development of next generation mobile
broadband networks. Member companies that currently support more
than a billion subscribers on their networks believe that a global
LTE standard has the potential to achieve significant economies of
scale and serve hundreds of millions of customers worldwide.
Clearwire also restated its commitment to its existing 4G WiMAX
network, which covers approximately 132 million people while
serving 7.65 million retail and wholesale customers and an
ecosystem of nearly 110 WiMAX enabled devices, including all 4G
phones currently offered by Sprint. Clearwire expects to end 2011
with approximately 10 million 4G customers.
About Clearwire
Clearwire Corporation (Nasdaq:CLWR), through its operating
subsidiaries, is a leading provider of mobile broadband services.
Clearwire's 4G network currently provides coverage in areas of the
U.S. where more than 130 million people live. Clearwire's open
all-IP network, combined with significant spectrum holdings,
provides an unprecedented combination of speed and mobility to
deliver next generation broadband access. The company markets its
4G service through its own brand called CLEAR® as well as through
its wholesale relationships with companies such as Sprint, Comcast,
Time Warner Cable, Locus Telecommunications, Cbeyond, Mitel and
Best Buy. Strategic investors include Intel Capital, Comcast,
Sprint, Google, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks.
Clearwire is headquartered in Kirkland, Wash. Additional
information is available at http://www.clearwire.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release, and other written and oral statements made by
Clearwire from time to time, contains forward-looking statements
which are based on management's current expectations and beliefs,
as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made
with information that is currently available. Forward-looking
statements may include, without limitation, management's
expectations regarding future financial and operating performance
and financial condition; proposed transactions; network development
and market launch plans; strategic plans and objectives; industry
conditions; the strength of the balance sheet; and liquidity and
financing needs. The words "will," "would," "may," "should,"
"estimate," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "believe,"
"target," "designed," "plan" and similar expressions are intended
to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not
to put undue reliance on such forward- looking statements, which
are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of
uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of
Clearwire's control, which could cause actual results to differ
materially and adversely from such statements. Some factors that
could cause actual results to differ are:
- We have a history of operating losses and we expect to continue
to realize significant net losses for the foreseeable future.
- If our business fails to perform as we expect, we may require
substantial additional capital, which may not be available on
acceptable terms or at all, to be able to continue to operate.
- Our current plans, and our expectations about becoming adjusted
EBITDA and cash flow positive, are based on a number of assumptions
about our future performance, which may prove to be inaccurate,
such as our ability to substantially expand our wholesale business
and implement various cost savings initiatives.
- We expect that our business will become increasingly dependent
on our wholesale partners, and Sprint in particular; if we do not
receive the amount of revenues we expect from existing wholesale
partners or if we are unable to enter into agreements with
additional wholesale partners our business prospects, results of
operations and financial condition could be adversely affected, or
we could be required to revise our current business plans.
- We regularly evaluate our plans, and we may elect to pursue new
or alternative strategies which we believe would be beneficial to
our business, including among other things, expanding our network
coverage to new markets, augmenting our network coverage in
existing markets, changing our sales and marketing strategy and or
acquiring additional spectrum. Such modifications to our plans
could significantly change our capital requirements.
- We believe we need to deploy LTE on our wireless broadband
network, alongside mobile WiMAX, to remain competitive; we will
incur significant costs to deploy such technology, and will need to
raise substantial additional capital to cover such costs.
Additionally, LTE technology, or other alternative technologies
that we may consider, may not perform as we expect on our network
and deploying such technologies would result in additional risks to
the company, including uncertainty regarding our ability to
successfully add a new technology to our current network and to
operate dual technology networks without disruptions to
customer service.
- We may experience difficulties in maintaining and upgrading our
networks, which could adversely affect customer satisfaction,
increase subscriber churn and costs incurred, and decrease our
revenues.
- We currently depend on our commercial partners to develop and
deliver the equipment for our legacy and mobile WiMAX
networks.
- Many of our competitors are better established and have
significantly greater resources, and may subsidize their
competitive offerings with other products and services.
- Our substantial indebtedness and restrictive debt covenants
could limit our financing options and liquidity position and may
limit our ability to grow our business.
- Sprint owns a just less than a majority of our shares, is our
largest shareholder, and has the contractual ability to obtain
enough shares to hold a majority voting interest in the company,
and Sprint may have, or may develop in the future, interests that
may diverge from other stockholders.
- Future sales of large blocks of our common stock may adversely
impact our stock price.
For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause
such a difference, please refer to Clearwire's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the information under
the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed
on February 22, 2011 and subsequent 10-Q filings. Clearwire
assumes no obligation to update or supplement such forward-looking
statements.
CONTACT: Media Relations:
Susan Johnston, 425-216-7913
susan.johnston@clearwire.com
JLM Partners for Clearwire:
Mike DiGioia or Jeremy Pemble, 206-381-3600
mike@jlmpartners.com or jeremy@jlmpartners.com
Investor Relations:
Alice Ryder, 425-636-5828
alice.ryder@clearwire.com
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