Google is giving up on Clearwire

[marioc21]

Google plans to divest itself from Clearwire. It has filed papers with the SEC showing it intends to sell its stake in Clearwire for roughtly $47 million. That's down from the original $500 million it put into Clearwire back in 2008.

 

Here's an article from TechCrunch:

 

http://techcrunch.co...arwire-for-47m/

 

Here's the SEC filing:

 

http://www.sec.gov/A...4522dex9922.htm

[pyroscott]

Buy high sell low. I wonder if they are just cleaning up their portfolio, or think Clearwire is going in the tank...

[ChadBroChillz]

I think this was in Sprint's plan. Before they made the deal with Clear, even before clear planned on going to LTE, Clear's 2500mhz was apart of Sprint's NV plan, but their actions made it seem like they wanted nothing to do with clear. I would not be surprised if sprint's plan was to have clear build out their TD-LTE network as much as possible, then before it got turned on and clear value was still rock bottom, buy out all the other investors and swallow clear back into itself.

[MacinJosh]

I guess the question is could it hurt Sprint just as much as Clear if Google dumps all that stock?

 

Sent from Josh's Evo Shift 4G using Forum Runner

[legion125]

Since the Metro PCS/Sprint deal fell through, Sprint should be checking the washer and under the couch for extra change to buy out the other investors. They are going to have to sink money into Clear anyway with its wholesale business drying up, Sprint might as well put it into something it owns outright.

[pyroscott]

I don't know if Sprint can raise that kind of capital right now though. They are stretched pretty thin already. If they could start making money off selling clearwire's service retail or wholesale, it might be worth it. I think it is only a matter of time before Sprint buys clearwire though.

[WiWavelength]

They are going to have to sink money into Clear anyway with its wholesale business drying up, Sprint might as well put it into something it owns outright.

 

Why would you say that Clearwire's wholesale business is "drying up"? It has the potential for quite a bit of growth in the near future due to the demise of LightSquared. Already, a few former LightSquared wholesale partner have shifted their contracts to Clearwire in just the past week or so.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

 

Why would you say that Clearwire's wholesale business is "drying up"? It has the potential for quite a bit of growth in the near future due to the demise of LightSquared. Already' date=' a few former LightSquared wholesale partner have shifted their contracts to Clearwire in just the past week or so.

 

AJ[/quote']

 

My portfolio is counting on it.

 

Posted via Forum Runner

[legion125]

Why would you say that Clearwire's wholesale business is "drying up"? It has the potential for quite a bit of growth in the near future due to the demise of LightSquared. Already, a few former LightSquared wholesale partner have shifted their contracts to Clearwire in just the past week or so.

 

AJ

 

Agreed Clear still shows a lot of potential,but not this year. For every iPhone sold by Sprint, that's $10 less going to Clear, and Sprint has sold a lot of iPhone's to people who normally would have bought an 4G (WiMax) phone instead. Clear's 4th quarter performance has confirmed this much.

 

I agree they have signed a few new wholesale partners, but not enough nor at the level LS2 was. Many soon to be ex-LS2 customers are sitting on the fence (for what reason, I don't know) but not enough are coming over from what I've read so far to turn the corner for Clear. I speculate that most don't want to invest in the WiMax experience in a somewhat limited market just to switch out a year later, so most just sit pat until something either happens or something better occurs.

 

Clear needs an LTE network to attract and host its customer base. However, Clear is going to go at it piecemeal and just retrofit towers that Sprint needs. I still can't figure out why they said they need $600 million and a year to retrofit its network. It got that sum and now we'll see a part time network in a year and a half from now. Things will get better for Clear eventually. Although they have money to get through most of this year by their own statements, I'm just being pragmatic. Clear is in trouble and it will get worse before this years out. Sprint has already confirmed it is going to need to inject more money into Clear later this year. At this point, Clear appears to be the millstone around Sprints neck, and both need to get control of this.