Kirkland-based Clearwire has in many ways become synonymous with WiMAX, the fourth-generation wireless technology that it has been rolling out in markets across the country. But the company today said it will begin tests of the rival LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4G wireless standard that Verizon Wireless has bet on.

It's an interesting move by the company, demonstrating that it won't be so stubborn as to cling blindly to one technology if another proves better -- even if the alternative is championed by one of its competitors.

"As we have consistently stated, we remain technology agnostic, but WiMAX provides us with unique advantages to meet the needs of our customers today," said John Saw, Clearwire's chief technology officer, in a news release announcing the LTE tests. "Ultimately, consumers don't care about technical acronyms, but they do care about quality and affordable Internet services that work where and when they want, and that's what we're focused on delivering,Part of our technical due diligence at Clearwire is to be prepared to leverage a number of possible opportunities as we future-proof our network, and that's the goal of these tests."

Coverage elsewhere: mocoNews.Net, Dow Jones Newswires, San Francisco Chronicle.

Separately, Clearwire today reported a $125.9 million, or 61 cents a share, for the three months ending June 30, larger than the loss of 52 cents a share than analysts had been expecting. See the Puget Sound Business Journal for more on the earnings results.