Clearwire said in May that it would need the money to meet a goal of reaching almost half the U.S. population with its network by the end of 2010. Tighter credit and wary investors have crimped funding sources, said Chief Executive Officer Ben Wolff, who wouldn’t say whether that would delay the project.
“It’s clear that capital markets are closed for either borrowers or companies that are trying to raise capital, regardless of what kind of company it is,” Wolff said. “We’ve seen challenges across the board.”
Sprint Nextel gained a 51 percent stake in Clearwire after combining its WiMax assets with the company’s in November.
While Intel and Comcast have “staying power” as partners, the next 12 months will be critical for Clearwire to prove its viability and get ahead of competing technology, said Portland- based Pat Becker Jr., who manages $1.6 billion, including Intel shares, at Becker Capital Management.
“If their partners walk away from them, then their viability comes into question,” he said. “This is basically a venture capital type of investment. As long as they’re important to Comcast and Intel in their overall strategy, I think they have a shot at getting through this.”
Clearwire will announce their next market launches during their quarterly earnings call on March 5. ThinkEquity believes Clearwire will launch in nine markets this year. Clearwire, which currently offers Mobile WiMAX in Portland, Oregon, has hinted it will offer WiMax service in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Chicago (See Unstrung: Clearwire Will Launch Nine in ’09).
Sprint’s Xohm branded Mobile WiMAX launched in Baltimore last October. Sprint is expected to use Samsung WiMAX gear in New York and Dallas/Ft Worth, along with Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Providence, Rhode Island. A Time Warner Cable WiMax deployment in Dallas was also among the ’09 possibilities. That’s ten.
The WiMAX Forum, pumping up the technology before the big GSM World Congress in Barcelona next week, announced today that WiMAX now covers 430 million people, or POPS, globally and expects to nearly double that to 800 million people by end of 2010. The trade group says there are currently some 460 WiMAX networks in more than 135 countries.
Related Dailywireless articles include; Clearwire’s Launch Party, Clearwire Portland Launch: Jan 6th, Clearwire in Portland, Clearwire: Let’s be “Clear”, Green Light for New Clearwire, iPCS Withdraws Injuction Against Sprint WiMAX, Clearwire: Show Us the Money, Xohm Marks the Spot, Chicago Xohmed Next?, WiMAX Doomed? Not., Mobile WiMAX: Fast, Cheap and Out of Control?, Mobile WiMAX Cooking- But Still in the Kitchen, WiMAX Roundup, Australia Unwired, Australian Blowup, BT’s European WiMAX Plan, Backhaul Delays Xohm Rollout, Hesse on WiMAX, Sprint’s WiMAX Rollout?, Sprint-Clearwire Deal Dead, Sprint Considering WiMAX Spinoff?, Sprint Forces Forsee Out, WiMAX Demoed on Chicago River, The Launch, ICO Wants Its Mobile TV – via DVB-SH, Google Apps for Clearwire, Sprint WiMAX: It’s Called “Xohm”, Xohm “Partners”?, Death to WiMAX?, Verizon: It’s LTE, and Sprint: It’s WiMAX!
