Clearwire Oh No!!! – Please Don’t Get Distracted!!!!!

Implications: This was what I feared – distraction and lack of coordination. We may be seeing the beginning of the end of Sprint’s WiMAX plans.

Analysis: The whole point of the joint venture was to enable Sprint and the other 6 companies to pool their technical and financial resources to build out WiMAX presumably in the United States.

I need to give this some more thought but on the surface this attempt to move into Europe now is a dumb idea.

Does Wolff not see this as a distraction from his job in the U.S.A.?  I guess not.

Ben Wolff wants to establish another partnership venture in Europe.  The general idea makes sense but the timing does not make sense.  Clearwire is not in a position to go charging off into Europe when it is trying to launch in the United States.  If the execution of Europe is on a different timeline it might be possible.

However, I have questions regarding the policy positions of the partners of the new Clearwire.  In past analyses I had praised the venture but I also cautioned investors to be wary of the venture.  To execute the new Clearwire requires cooperation amongst all of the partners.  We have 7 companies; all run by very strong personalities and all dominated by strong corporate cultures.  In other words this venture was a speculative venture from the get-go.  Now Wolff goes off and adds one more thing for Clearwire to do.  Do the other partners agree with the Old Clearwire?

Are the new Clearwire’s resources going to be used in the European venture?  Or is Wolff going to use only the old Clearwire staff?  Is there going to be a staff impact?

This needs to be reviewed carefully.