Summary
I am a supporter of Clearwire. I like the concept. However, a year ago I had expressed my doubts about Sprint Nextel and its Partners’ ability to find the cash in 2009 to build the network unless Clearwire could demonstrate it had a plan it could execute to.
Analysis
One of the highlights of 2009 has been Clearwire’s network deployments. Nothing beats results. Clearwire actually went beyond my expectations. I had only expected a couple of commercial trial systems rather than the large number of commercial ready systems.
As of October 2009, Clearwire is in 14 markets covering 10 Million people. In 2010, Clearwire plans to launch the 4G service in New York (Time Warner Cable), Boston (Comcast), Washington, D.C. (Comcast), Houston (Comcast) and the San Francisco Bay Area (Comcast), among other markets.
As of September 2009, Clearwire was operating in Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Killeen/Temple, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Waco and Wichita Falls, all in Texas; Bellingham, Wash; and Boise, Idaho. The Texas locations are all in Time Warner Cable’s footprint, while the Idaho and Washington markets are served by Comcast.
By end of 2010, Clearwire plans on covering up to 120 Million people; bringing the competitive battle right to the doorsteps of their biggest competitors.
The economy is still in tough shape. Raising the additional money will be tough but I believe the Clearwire partnership will be able to do it. As long as the banks and investors understand the end game for Clearwire and its partners/owners, raising the money is do-able. Keep in mind, cable needs WiMAX to execute its strategy. WiMAX is not going away and neither are the cable companies. The decision to invest additional capital is a wise one. Just remember the obvious, Clearwire needs to perform in order to ensure the money has not been wasted.
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
