T-Mobile weighs investment in Clearwire, but Sprint may balk |
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Mass High Tech
T-Mobile weighs investment in Clearwire, but Sprint may balk
Rumors have circulated for months about a potential partnership between Clearwire and T-Mobile USA, two wireless giants which are located just a few miles apart just east of Seattle. Now, The Wall Street Journal has the inside track on what's going on behind the scenes. The report indicates that Sprint -- which owns 54 percent of Clearwire -- is a little woozy about letting a competitor partner or invest in Clearwire.
The report indicates that some Sprint directors are supportive of a Clearwire-T-Mobile match, while others are against it.
Tricia Duryee at Moco News has more on the debate, pointing out that Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow has stressed his company's independence from Sprint in past conference calls. In one, Morrow reportedly said: “Let’s just say, the largest arch enemy of our top shareholder [Sprint] kind of came in and said we’re going to offer you great economic terms, I think the reality is, is if that made sense to us, we’d still get that approved. We’d naturally take into account all actions or what would affect us from a value standpoint.”
So, does that open the door for T-Mobile to strike a partnership with Clearwire?
It's too early to say. According to the Journal report, Sprint's Dan Hesse -- the former CEO of Terabeam and AT&T Wireless -- has yet to make a decision on the proposal. The Journal report continues:
Some Sprint directors are fighting hard against a T-Mobile USA investment in Clearwire, one person familiar with the matter said. Giving T-Mobile a big Clearwire stake means "making a competitor stronger in an area of competitive advantage" for Sprint, this person said. Directors "are still struggling" with choosing their Clearwire investment strategy and haven't set a deadline for a decision, another person familiar with the matter said.
Clearwire has been pushing hard with its so-called wholesale model in which third parties utilize the spectrum and bandwidth of the company's 4G network. In late July, electronics retailer Best Buy announced a deal with Clearwire to resell wireless broadband.
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