TOP NEWS

Sprint, Clearwire to Merge WiMAX Businesses

Telecommunications stalwart Sprint Nextel Corp. announced Wednesday that it and fellow telecom Clearwire Corp. have agreed to combine their wireless broadband businesses and form a new wireless communications company. Sprint said the new company will be named Clearwire and will focus on deploying a nationwide mobile WiMAX network for virtually all markets, including consumers, small businesses, medium and large enterprises, public safety organizations and educational institutions. Sprint noted that the new Clearwire will have plenty of funding to get this accomplished: five technology heavyweights—Intel Corp. through Intel Capital, Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks—have agreed to invest some $3.2 billion in the fledgling company. Their investment, Sprint added, is based on a target price of $20 per share of Clearwire common stock. Sprint said that, once the transaction is complete, it will own a majority, 51 percent stake in the new company. Existing Clearwire shareholders will own some 27 percent, leaving 22 percent for the five investors and their $3.2 billion. The new Clearwire will be headquartered in Kirkland, Wash.


LATEST HEADLINES

More Headlines

BROWSE ISSUES