Thursday, December 1, 2011

Clearwire Gets $1.6 Billion Lifeline From Sprint

Bellevue-based Clearwire has received a $1.6 billion lifeline from Sprint, resolving questions on if Clearwire would be able to make a $237M debt payment today, and also extending Sprint's support for its partner. The two said that Clearwire will receive a total of $926M from Sprint for its 4G WiMax services in 2012 and 2013, in agreements worth up to a total of $1.6 billion. Clearwire has been under pressure due to a shift by the industry to the competing, LTE standard. Sprint has already said it will be shifting its efforts to LTE, although it said that its WiMax network efforts with Clearwire will extend through at least 2015.