2008 Top Ten: Clearwire Craziness

DECEMBER 24, 2008_Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung

What a roller coaster of a year for Clearwire LLC!

The Kirkland, Wash.-based mobile WiMax provider became a broadband contender, but always against a backdrop of share price highs and lows, possible legal and regulatory issues, and the constant question of whether Craig McCaw's crew can deliver on the promise of nationwide wireless broadband.

We'll begin to find that out next year. For now, let's review the Clearwire craziness.
10. The Adaptix challenge
December 2008 still had a twist in its tail for Clearwire and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S - message board) as base-station vendor Adaptix Inc. launched a patent complaint against the pair. Adaptix is claiming that its patents cover Clearwire's plans to offer service using technology based on 802.16e standard, something that could potentially have a more wide-ranging impact in 2009. * Adaptix Launches IPR Salvo at Clearwire

9. CLWR: contender
Speculation swirled around Clearwire like flies on sherbet for the first five months of 2008. The operator deep-sixed its deal with Sprint late in 2007 but almost instantly talk of a renewed deal emerged, with a roaming deal between the two being the first real clue that not all bridges had been burnt. This led to a fit of speculation that the knot would be re-tied at April's CTIA show and the inevitable letdown when it didn't happen. * Clearwire Roams With Sprint * Clearwire & Sprint: On Again? * Clearwire Q4 Drops, WiMax News Doesn't * Clearwire's Rumor Ride

8. Backhaul bites back
Clearwire partner Sprint was tripped up by the sheer horsepower needed to supply bits and bytes over the air for WiMax base stations, causing it to delay its initial WiMax launch in April. Clearwire CTO John Saw eventually stepped up to explain how Clearwire would make the backroom magic happen with microwaves. * Sprint Quiet on WiMax Launch Date * Clearwire's Backhaul Bet

7. A low-fiber diet
Clearwire investor Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - message board) turned out to be less of an active partner than some had initially expected, at least on the infrastructure end of things. * Clearwire Won't Use Google's Dark Fiber

6. The stocks 'n' shocks roller coaster
One of the ever-present threads running through Unstrung's coverage of Clearwire this year was the extremely volatile nature of the company's shares, global economic Armageddon notwithstanding. The way that shareholders reacted to any news about the company was swift, surprising, and often unpredictable. * CLWR Ride Gets Wilder * Clearwire 'Coaster Continues * Clearwire Crunched!

5. The LTE tease
Clearwire has been both dogmatic and pragmatic on the proto-4G technology rival to WiMax -- Long Term Evolution (LTE) -- this year. Ben Wolff, the firm's CEO, initially claimed that WiMax would be "at least two years ahead of the competition... We have a substantial time-to-market advantage over others who have only just got their 4G spectrum." Toward the end of this year, however, while reiterating WiMax's lead, he said that Clearwire could use LTE alongside WiMax technology if it evolves into a global standard. * Clearwire: We'll Kick LTE's Butt * Clearwire: We Could Use LTE

4. Flagpole jitters
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T - message board) could have proved to be the grit in the oyster for Cleawire in the second half of this year. The No. 1 cellular provider in the U.S. complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about spectrum allocation in the Sprint asset merger. Just one of the factors that could have -- but didn't -- trip Clearwire on the way to the finish line in 2008. * Clearwire, Sprint Complete Merger * I Can See Clearwire Now * FCC Approves Sprint-Clearwire Deal
3. Crunchy cost questions
It is an issue that is bound to dog Clearwire into 2009 and beyond. Can it raise enough money and control costs as tightly as possible in order to complete a nationwide WiMax rollout? * Can Clearwire Do It? * CLWR: Where It's at With WiMax * Clearwire Has Cash for 'at Least' 12 Months
2. Android approaches
One of Unstrung's neater scoops of 2008: It turns out Google is going to be more than just a pretty wallet to Clearwire. * CTIA: Clearwire Talks Android & More

1. The $14.5B WiMax giant
Well, what did you think we were going to pick? Intel Corp., Google, and the cable companies' investment in Clearwire is one of the few events that actually stands a chance of shifting the wireless status quo in the U.S., however slightly that may be. * Sprint, Clearwire Create $14.5B WiMax Giant

Unstrung - WiMax/Broadband Wireless - 2008 Top Ten: Clearwire Craziness

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