Clearwire is looking to sell some of its unused spectrum to shore up its balance sheet, ?

Clearwire is looking to sell some of its unused spectrum to shore up its balance sheet - IS this all there is TO It ? Or are there Secret Alliances and Conflicts of Interest that the FCC is purposely Ignoring ?

"NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) said it is weighing multiple offers for its wireless spectrum, but doesn't expect to make a decision until the second quarter, as the company attempts to firm up its financial footing.

Clearwire is looking to sell some of its unused spectrum to shore up its balance sheet, a major concern as the company continues to burn through cash. It posted a wider fourth-quarter loss on Thursday despite a surge in customers.

Despite a debt offering in December, the company said it had enough funds to last through the middle of this year.

Clearwire said it has received bids from multiple interested parties seeking a varying amount of spectrum, adding that some of the parties expressed interest in exploring other strategic transactions. The company is evaluating the offers, and said it is delaying the conclusion until the second quarter.

Chief Executive Bill Morrow said he has a strong preference to secure an additional strategic investment.

Clearwire's other option is to obtain additional financing from Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), which already owns 54% of the company.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told Dow Jones Newswires last week that his company hasn't begun to evaluate the possibility of providing financing to Clearwire.

He also ruled out buying Clearwire outright.

Clearwire is building and managing the 4G network powering the service that Sprint sells to its customers, but the companies have had their differences.

The companies disagree on how much Sprint should pay Clearwire as a wholesale customer. Clearwire said the companies have held "productive discussions" about the dispute.

"Dan Hesse and I have regular discussions, and we're both encouraged by the progress of our teams," Morrow told analysts. "The relationship is healthy and strong."

Morrow said Clearwire is focused on coming up with a resolution, which he believes is imminent, before deciding upon its spectrum options.

Sprint has also been irked by Clearwire's retail presence, which in some areas competes against Sprint.

Clearwire said on Thursday that it plans to aggressively grow its wholesale business and reduce expenses, but added that it plans to "prudently pace our retail growth."

It still expects double-digit percentage customer growth from its retail business this year.

To conserve cash, Clearwire in November suspended its future retail plans, including delaying the launch of a smartphone using its Clear brand, cut 15% of its work force, and cut its plans to expand its network beyond what it had originally planned.

The company said it plans to roll out its network to other markets once it obtains more financing.

Clearwire's move to limit its retail presence has helped to ease tensions between the two companies, according to people familiar with the situation.

"We'll be tied at the hip for quite some time," Morrow said about Clearwire and Sprint.

While Clearwire's retail presence isn't expected to contribute much growth, its wholesale business has performed strongly. Sprint, the largest wholesale customer, has hinged much of its turnaround on the successful adoption of 4G smartphones and services. The companies, however, face more competition with every other carrier touting a 4G service of their own.

For the latest period, Clearwire added 1.5 million subscribers, bring its total base to 4.4 million from 688,000 a year earlier. It said it expects to end the year with 8.8 million subscribers.

Clearwire reported a loss of $128 million, compared with a loss of $98.7 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, the loss was 53 cents compared with 55 cents a year earlier, as the number of shares outstanding increased. Revenue more than doubled, to $180.7 million. "

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110217-717390.html

I Guess Clearwire's Loss is Eagle River's Gain ? (Smoke and Mirrors)

T-Mobile USA - Sprint Nextel - Clearwire Corporation

"Clearwire doesn't need Sprint's OK for a T-Mobile deal

Despite a recent report that indicated Sprint Nextel's (NYSE:S) board is debating whether to allow T-Mobile USA to invest in Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR), ultimately Sprint does not have final say in the matter.

A report in the Wall Street Journal said Sprint's board is divided on the issue. However, while Sprint owns 54 percent of Clearwire's outstanding shares, and can appoint seven of the company's 13 board members, major decisions like allowing another strategic investor require the approval of 10 board members. So, in theory, while Sprint holds sway on Clearwire's board, it is not the ultimate authority.

Source and Full Article

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/clearwire-would-not-need-sprints-ok-t-mobile-deal/2010-09-02

October 2010

"Clearwire Selling off Spectrum for more funding

In what appears to be a last resort in garnering more funding, Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) is aiming to sell some of its vast amount of spectrum to raise between $2.5 billion and $5 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.

Despite having big-named backers such as Sprint, which owns 54 percent of the company, Comcast, Intel and Time Warner, it appears that none of them want to plug additional money into the WiMAX operator.

Tensions have recently increased over the strategic direction of the company, according to published reports.

The Bloomberg report, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal, said that AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T), Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom and Clearwire investor Time Warner have expressed interest in acquiring the spectrum.

So far the companies have engaged in two rounds of bidding, which is private and is being managed by Deutsche Bank, Bloomberg said.

Clearwire holds approximately 120 megahertz of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz to 2.6 GHz band.

Bloomberg said the operator is aiming to sell about 40 megahertz of that.

Clearwire has long touted its vast spectrum holdings as an operating advantage when it comes to network speed and capacity.

T-Mobile and Clearwire have been holding discussions about whether the operator will become a wholesale partner of Clearwire.

Recently, Sprint said it had no interest in taking ownership of the operator, while Comcast said it is unlikely to up its 9-percent interest. "

Source of Clearwire Corp Spectrum Sale Post
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/report-clearwire-selling-spectrum-more-funding/2010-10-13


Isn't T-Mobile in With Lightsquared? Look Deep, Smoke and Mirrors Everywhere on this MSS Spectrum Drama and HUGE money in the Soon to Be Biggest Industry in the U.S and Everywhere Really..

Time Warner Wants Spectrum?

Time Warner Inc. Stole a 13 Trillion Dollar Technology and Make Billions Monthly, as they have for over a Decade in the Stolen iViewit Technology So Why not just Steal Spectrum Jeffrey Bewkes, Time Warner CEO. And Why is the Ex-Time Warner General Counsel Curtis Lu REALLY the Lightsquared (Philip Falcone, Harbinger Capital) General Counsel Now?

Crystal L. Cox

Crystal@CrystalCox.com



Resources On Time Warner Inc. STEALING iViewit Technology

http://www.curtislu.com/2011/02/curtis-lu-time-warner-inc-general.html

http://www.curtislu.com/2011/02/curtis-lu-senior-vice-president-and.html

http://www.investigativejournalist.net/2011/02/open-letter-to-time-warner-warner-bros.html

http://www.douglaschey.com/

http://www.jeffreybewkes.com/

http://www.deniedpatent.com/

MSS Spectrum News Archives - Moves by Clearwire and FCC oversight could make Harbinger's spectrum gamble look like a very bad bet.

November 9th 2010

"When Barack Obama’s National Broadband Plan was published in March, wireless broadband spectrum was identified as crucial in helping the US to realise its broadband goals. A chunk of this spectrum had been reserved for mobile satellite services (MSS).

Yet due to the expense of creating a hybrid satellite and terrestrial network, it had remained largely unused.

Even so, because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had provided this Spectrum Free of Charge, many observers believed it would be extremely valuable if conditions regarding its use for terrestrial services were eventually relaxed. Chief among them was Philip Falcone and Harbinger, his New York hedge fund.

Harbinger's bullishness was apparent when it bought SkyTerra, a struggling MSS operator, in the same month Mr Obama revealed his broadband plan. SkyTerra had reported a net loss of US$64m on revenues of just US$8m in the final quarter of 2009.

Yet Harbinger had realised the Spectrum SkyTerra owned would have considerable value if the FCC allowed it to be used for a so-called ancillary terrestrial component (ATC).

Eager to put the MSS Spectrum to effective use on the ground, and help move the National Broadband Plan forwards, the FCC altered regulations regarding its usage to suit Harbinger's needs at the same time it approved the hedge fund's takeover of SkyTerra for just US$263m.

Following the acquisition, Harbinger launched a new business called LightSquared – aimed at becoming a national wireless broadband network operating an exclusively wholesale business and expected to cost US$7bn to build.

Soon afterwards, Mr Falcone was suggesting that SkyTerra's spectrum could be worth as much as US$3–5bn. His lofty valuation was based on the expectation that a similar but smaller chunk of spectrum held by Terrestar – another satellite company 30% owned by Harbinger – could be valued at between US$1.5bn and US$2bn, even if Terrestar went bankrupt (always a possibility given the FCC's stringent conditions that spectrum must be used or rescinded).

Last month, it did just that, only weeks after launching its first commercial dual-mode handset (working on both satellite and terrestrial networks) through mobile-phone operator AT&T. With the value of Terrestar's Spectrum set to become the subject of intense scrutiny in the coming months, Mr Falcone's bold assertions could be put to the test.

LightSquared's many challenges

Perhaps the biggest challenge to Mr Falcone's business case comes from Clearwire.

Majority owned by US operator Sprint Nextel, Clearwire already operates its own wireless broadband network and is shopping its wholesale capacity to potential retail partners (it recently scored a deal with Best Buy, the world's largest electronics retailer).

LightSquared is not only playing catch-up from a network perspective but is also targeting many of the same potential customers. T-Mobile is a case in point.

The fourth-largest mobile-phone operator in the US, it is the sort of customer LightSquared craves.

What's more, because Sprint Nextel holds equity in Clearwire, and the FCC has ruled that neither AT&T nor Verizon can lease more than 25% of LightSquared's network, T-Mobile is the only one of the four major mobile-phone operators that could become a key anchor tenant for LightSquared.

Yet T-Mobile has reportedly been in talks with Clearwire about a partnership.

Perhaps more worrying for Mr Falcone is Clearwire's current spectrum sale, expected to be completed by the end of this month.

If it is true that Mr Falcone really wants to profit from the perceived value of LightSquared's spectrum (before ever having to run a real network), then Clearwire could deliver a huge blow to his spectrum arbitrage exit strategy by delivering the wrong kind of valuation benchmark.

While the FCC appears to have been on LightSquared’s side so far, its recent moves may also cause jitters at Harbinger.

In September, a company called Open Range, which relies on ATC spectrum owned by MSS operator Globalstar to operate its rural terrestrial wireless network, was denied a request to delay meeting ATC satellite criteria for a further 16 months.

Open Range has effectively been left in limbo by the decision and must now find other spectrum to offer its services.

Given the FCC's strict rollout targets for LightSquared's terrestrial and satellite services, the ruling against Open Range issues a stern warning to the Harbinger-backed company.

Although LightSquared has been busy in recent months, announcing a US$7bn network agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks, a chipset deal with Qualcomm and around US$2bn in debt and equity commitments, numerous developments could upset the business. Partnership with Clearwire could knock T-Mobile out of LightSquared's equation, while the outcome of Clearwire's Spectrum Sale could also make LightSquared look like a very bad hedge by Mr Falcone.

And deprived of a quick exit strategy, LightSquared could find the cost of actually building a hybrid satellite and terrestrial network to the FCC’s tight rollout targets proves too much. Particularly if all the big retail partners are gone."

Source of Nokia Siemens Networks, LightSquared, Clearwire Corp., Philip Falcone, Craig McCaw, Qualcomm, Open Range Post

http://www.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=ib3Article&pubtypeid=1162462501&article_id=1517583136&rf=0

So Was the Spectrum Free from the FCC or Not?

Clearwire Corp., Craig McCaw did not REALLY Exit? It was more of a Strategic Move to Make him and Eagle River Investors More Money, for it Looks Like Craig McCaw had inside information, in my Opinion... as Isn't T-Mobile hooked up with Philip Falcone and Harbinger Capital and won't T-Mobile be one of the MSS Spectrum Retailers for LightSquared ? Look Deep, Very Deep...