Clearwire Corporation (styled as clearw? re ) is a telecommunications operator that provides fixed wireless and fixed broadband communications services to retail and wholesale customers in the United States, Belgium and Spain. Clearwire traced its roots to 1998, when Sierra Technologies, Inc., separated certain assets to form a new company, Clearwire Technologies Inc. In October 2003, Craig McCaw purchased Clearwire Technologies, the parent company of Clearwire Holdings and moved its corporate headquarters to Kirkland, Washington. In 2012, Clearwire moved its corporate headquarters to Bellevue, Washington.
Most of the previous Clearwire shares were owned by a number of major companies including Sprint Nextel Corporation (now Sprint Corporation), Comcast Corporation, Time Warner Cable Inc., Bright House Networks, LLC, Google Inc. and Intel Corporation. Sprint Nextel is Clearwire's single largest shareholder, owning 50.8% joint stock and corporate control. On July 9, 2013, Sprint Nextel completed the acquisition of the remaining shares that have not been owned, becoming the sole owner of Clearwire Corporation. A day later, on July 10, 2013, Sprint Nextel and SoftBank Corp. announced the completion of their merger, in which Softbank invested $ 21.6 billion in Sprint.
Clearwire provides services to 88 markets in the United States that include 134 million potential customers. Sprint Corporation has the rights to a radio frequency spectrum in the 2.5 GHz range that provides services primarily using the mobile WiMAX 4G 802.16e standard. Clearwire also provides services to customers in 17 US cities using the Motorola Expedience 802.16d radio interface called the company as "Pre-4G".
Clearwire is ranked as the fifth largest wireless provider in the US, before it was acquired, with approximately 11 million subscribers using WiMAX networks in January 2012. Sprint ceased operations from the Clearwire Network on November 6, 2015.
Video Clearwire
History
Clearwire traced its roots to 1998, when Sierra Technologies, Inc. separating certain assets to form a new company, Clearwire, Inc., based in Arlington, Texas. Clearwire Technologies was formed by a number of investors including CEOs of Sierra Jim Gero and Edward "Rusty" Rose, a former Rangers Texas managing partner. Clearwire Technologies collects about US $ 100 million from Goldman Sachs, along with other clients who hold licenses for the spectrum allocated to various educational institutions; former band Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) now known as EBS or Educational Broadband Service.
After Goldman provides funds - which should be used to launch systems in major markets across the US - they use the terms of the agreement to take control of the company; hired the new CEO, Leo J. Cyr, who ousted the entire management team, including Clearwire CEO, Brian Nerney, while withdrawing the founding powers that remain on the Board of Directors.
A holding company controlled by Craig McCaw, Flux LLC acquired Clearwire Inc. parent company Clearwire Holdings in March 2004. After taking control, McCaw installed executives from McCaw Cellular in key leadership positions at Clearwire Corp. On June 3, 2004, McCaw bought Clearwire Inc. for an undisclosed amount and use its name and resources, as well as the technology developed by another company owned by McCaw, NextNet Wireless Inc., to launch its latest efforts. On October 26, 2004, Intel Corp. working with McCaw to develop and deploy technologies for portable wireless Internet access. The partnership includes investment by Clearwire Corp. On March 9, 2005, Bell Canada invested $ 100 million US in Clearwire Corp. based in Seattle.
Clearwire grew from 1,000 subscribers in September 2004 to more than 443,000 subscribers in May 2008. Clearwire claims in September 2006 that 20% of its market has more than 10% penetration of closed households.
Clearwire took a $ 900 million capital infusion from Intel and Motorola in July 2006, shortly after withdrawing its initial public offering. Manufacturer of Clearwire equipment, Nextnet Wireless is sold to Motorola as part of the exchange. Investments by these two industry giants have been reported as an effort to accelerate the development and deployment of WiMAX networks worldwide.
Unnamed sources claim that AT & amp; T sells Clearwire a 2.5 GHz piece of spectrum for about $ 300 million. This spectrum covers markets in the southeast US and previously owned by BellSouth. The spectrum strengthens Clearwire's position as the second largest holder of the 2.5 GHz spectrum after Sprint Nextel. AT & amp; T must sell the spectrum as a condition of merger with BellSouth.
Clearwire and Sprint Nextel announced a partnership in July 2007 to accelerate the deployment of WiMAX technology across the US. The deal includes a spectrum and market exchange between the two companies, as well as providing roaming capabilities for customers traveling between corporate networks. The partnership was concluded at the end of 2007. In 2008, the new Sprint CEO Dan Hesse started a serious discussion about forming a joint venture between the two companies in hopes of bringing in outside funding from Google, Intel and Best Buy. On March 26, 2008, an anonymous source stated that Sprint and Clearwire can earn $ 1 billion from Comcast and $ 500 million from Time Warner Cable in financial support.
Clearwire filed an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission in May 2006. Underwriters include Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase. Trading started March 8, 2007 under ticker symbol "CLWR" on Nasdaq. Clearwire offers 24 million shares at $ 25 per share, and collects about US $ 600 million. Prior to the Sprint merger, Craig McCaw was the largest shareholder of the company with a majority of the shares.
On May 7, 2008, wireless broadband unit Clearwire and Sprint Nextel Xohm announced their intention to join, incorporating the Sprint WiMAX 4G network (Xohm) with existing Clearwire pre-WiMAX broadband network. Sprint owns 54% of the companies, with former Clearwire shareholders owning 27% - the Comcast consortium, Time Warner Cable, Intel, Google, and Bright House Networks invest $ 3.2 billion and have a balance. Clearwire and cable companies will buy 3G mobile broadband from Sprint as MVNOs. Clearwire/Sprint Nextel officially launched Portland, Oregon as the first market to use the new service. The Clearwire 4G service is labeled as CLEAR , except in those markets where the Clearwire name is already set and where CLEAR services are not available. 4G CLEAR is available in 35 of the country's 40 largest metropolitan statistics areas, which covers 130 million people.
On March 9, 2009, Clearwire named Bill Morrow as CEO, replacing Benjamin Wolff, who became Co-Chairman with Craig McCaw. Morrow, 49, resigned as CEO of Pacific Gas & amp; Electricity company. Morrow previously held a number of senior positions at Vodafone.
In April 2009, a class action lawsuit was filed against Clearwire. The lawsuit was dismissed in April 2009 but appealed by the complainant. The lawsuit claims that the actual corporate internet connection speed is slower than advertised and is sometimes unavailable.
On December 31, 2010, McCaw resigned as Chairman of Clearwire and was replaced by John W. Stanton. On March 10, 2011, Bill Morrow resigned as CEO and was replaced by Interim CEO John W. Stanton. On August 10, 2011, Clearwire promoted COO Erik Prusch to the President and CEO; named John Stanton Executive Chairman.
Clearwire stated that they may not honor the $ 237 million debt agreement due on December 1, 2011, to save cash. However, on December 2, 2011, the company announced that it not only made the payments, but has made a new four-year deal with Sprint to receive funds to build a network and investment worth $ 1.6 billion.
Complete acquisition by Sprint Nextel
On October 14, 2012, it was announced that Japanese telecom company SoftBank would purchase 70% of Sprint Nextel Corporation for $ 20.1 billion. This initially led to speculation that Sprint would buy Clearwire, but "two well-placed sources" in Sprint said that such a maneuver would not happen.
Sprint, however, announced on October 18, 2012, that it acquired a majority stake in Clearwire by buying shares from Clearwire's founder, which provided Sprint with 50.8% ownership and a Clearwire control. On December 17, 2012, Sprint announced that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining shares in Clearwire that it does not own for $ 2.97 per share, which is equivalent to $ 2.2 billion.
Over a period of about six months, a bidding war with DISH Network for Clearwire occurred, eventually resulting in Sprint increasing its offer price to Clearwire to $ 5 per share. On July 8, 2013, Clearwire announced that its shareholders approved the merger with Sprint. Thus, Sprint shareholders approved the merger with SoftBank, which closed on July 10, 2013. Furthermore, the company plans to lay off about 75% of its employees.
CLEAR announces that it will close on November 5, 2015. On November 6, 2015, CLEAR services are discontinued. The WiMAX network is operated, without CLEAR customers, until early March 2016 due to a court order.
Maps Clearwire
Network
Obedience OFDM - Pre-4G
In 17 markets in the United States and certain markets in Belgium, Clearwire provides a service called "Pre-4G" using a Point-to-Multipoint system from Motorola called "Expedience", part of the MOTOwi4 product family. This service is considered true Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS).
This service is not unique to Clearwire. Several companies around the world use the same product line from Motorola, including Inukshuk Wireless Partnership of Canada, Beamspeed and Commspeed of Arizona, AccessTEL from Bangladesh, and Unitel from Guatemala.
WiMAX 802.16e - 4G
The company, on 6 January 2009, launched Portland, Oregon as its first WiMAX 4G wireless broadband market, enabling consumers and businesses to access the Internet, wirelessly, at broadband speeds.
Since the launch of Portland, the company has expanded its 4G network to 87 additional markets.
Retail products and services
4G mobile phone and fixed wireless
In the United States, Clearwire offers 4G fixed and mobile Internet access under the CLEAR brand in 88 cities. Clearwire claims an average download speed of 3 to 6 Mbit/s with bursts of more than 10 Mbit/s.
In January 2011, Clearwire began offering 4G WiMax services in Spain under the Instant brand, stopping services based on Motorola Expedience technology.
Clearwire provides services in Spain in the frequency range from 3.4 to 3.6 GHz.
Clearwire offers 4G WiMax service in Belgium under the Clearwire brand.
Prediction of wireless connection
Clearwire offers Compliance-based services in 17 markets in the United States and in certain markets in Belgium. Customers may select Motorola Resident Customer Residential Customer (RSU) or Motorola PC Expansion Card in PC Card and ExpressCard. RSU combines automatic adaptive modulation for increased throughput and network capacity. Users connect to the Internet in indoor locations across the entire coverage area of ​​the system. The unit serves as an Ethernet bridge (Layer 2) device, a standard Ethernet interface via a twisted pair connector. The PC Card incorporates the same automatic adaptive modulation for increased throughput and network capacity with additional portability of the CardBus laptop card.
Clearwire previously offered services based on Compliance in Ireland & amp; Denmark until operations in those countries were purchased by Imagine Communications and ERLO Group, respectively. In January 2011, Clearwire discontinued services based on Motorola Expedience technology in Spain to support Instantane branded 4G WiMAX service.
VoIP
Clearwire also offers its own Voice over IP service in some areas for an additional monthly fee.
Wholesale products and services
Sprint Corporation (Clearwire's parent company) resells 4G Clearwire network services as Sprint 4G WiMax in over 70 markets across the United States. Other Clearwire Investors Comcast and Time Warner Cable resell 4G Clearwire mobile broadband services in a number of markets, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Portland, among others, bundled with cable, home phone and residential internet services.
On June 4, 2010, Sprint Nextel introduced the first commercially available 4G phone in the US, HTC EVO 4G. The device incorporates the Clearwire 4G network with Sprint's 3G network and Google's Android operating system, creating a heavy multimedia device that Sprint hopes will differentiate it from 3G smartphones like the Apple iPhone.
Criticism
In 2005, Clearwire drew criticism from Vonage phone operators. Vonage claims Clearwire and other ISPs block Vonage services. Testing shows that contrary to Vonage's claim, Vonage calls are linked via the Clearwire network.
In September 2010, Clearwire introduced a dynamic network management system, which for users who consume a "disproportionate amount of wireless data", limits the user to about 256 kbit/dt of network throughput. Certain users claim their terms of service are retroactively modified to reflect new policies, and Clearwire itself unofficially acknowledges this claim.
In mid-2012, Clearwire reached completion to refund some of the termination and service credit charges for individuals experiencing slowdown as part of their dynamic network management policies. This settlement allows Clearwire to continue a stifling connection in certain circumstances as long as their ads reflect this.
In September 2013, Clearwire in Spain, operating under the Instant brand, disconnects all its services, web and telephone lines without prior notice. It was reported at the time that Spanish consumer associations collected evidence of possible overcharging.
On April 15, 2015 (for several days) Clearwire cut email service clearwire.net in the United States.
On April 17, 2015, Clearwire announced Sprint will suspend operations of 4G CLEAR (WiMAX) Network and Clearwire Hope Network on November 6, 2015.
See also
- The Sprint Company
- Virgin Mobile USA
- Mobile broadband
- Wireless broadband
- Wireless internet service provider
References
External links
- Corporate Clearwire website
- CLEAR US site products and services
- Belgian Clearwire Site
- Spanish Pages Clearwire
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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