Kirkland-based Clearwire today announced a number of cost-cutting measures as the provider of broadband wireless services attempts to raise additional cash. The announcement was made in conjunction with the company's earnings report, and it comes at a particularly bad time given that Verizon Wireless is gearing up to roll out its competing broadband wireless service in a number of markets where Clearwire operates.

"While the Company is cautiously optimistic it will resolve its short-term funding needs in the near future, there can be no assurances," Clearwire writes in its earnings report. "Thus, it is implementing a series of significant cash conservation measures to reduce costs, including: a substantial reduction in sales and marketing spending, a suspension of additional retail channel market launches of the CLEAR-branded operations in select markets including Denver and Miami, delays in the introduction of CLEAR-branded smartphones, a substantial reduction in the contractor workforce, a 15% reduction in the number of employees, and the discontinuation of development activities for sites not required for its current build plan."

Clearwire says those measures will save it between $100 million to $200 million in 2010 and again in the first half of 2011.

We first heard rumblings of Clearwire cutting back on contractors on October 26th. But at the time, a spokeswoman for the company declined to comment on the rumors citing the quiet period leading up to the earnings. We have an email into the company to see just how many people were impacted by this round of cuts.

The cutbacks come despite significant growth in Clearwire's business. The company's third quarter revenue grew 114 percent to $147 million, and it ended the quarter with 2.84 million subscribers.

CEO Bill Morrow said that the company expects to finish the year with four million total subscribers, double the original expectation for the year.

But Clearwire continues to compile huge losses, and the cash crunch is taking its toll. The net loss for the third quarter was $564 million, up from $305 million for the same period last year.

The company has discussed partnering with T-Mobile and selling spectrum assets in order to raise cash, and Morrow said options are still on the table.

"We continue to pursue all options for future funding including debt, equity or a potential sale of excess spectrum or other assets, and we remain cautiously optimistic that we will resolve our short-term funding needs in the near future," he said in today's release. "We continue to believe that our unmatched spectrum portfolio and our all-IP based network will keep us extremely well positioned in the dynamic and burgeoning market for mobile data.”

Clearwire finished the quarter with $1.4 billion in cash and short-term investments.

Founded by wireless pioneer Craig McCaw, Clearwire's WiMax network now has the ability to reach 100 million people in major markets such as New York.

UPDATE: Clearwire employs about 4,200 people, so a 15 percent reduction equates to about 630 people losing their jobs. The layoffs have already started, with employees to receive "modest" severance payments. A company spokesman declined to comment on the number of contractors who lost their jobs as part of the restructuring.

Even with the layoffs, Clearwire said it will show a net gain of about 200 employees for the year.

The company will continue to operate retail stores, but it will scale back on new retail openings and marketing spending until it can secure fresh capital.

UPDATE: Throughout today's analyst call, Morrow and other executives made repeated references to the importance of securing additional financing.

"I'll hope you will agree that based on the numbers, we are making significant progress. But it is fair to say that we have a few hurdles in front of us," said Morrow. "But, again, we remain confident in the value of the company and our future. The lack of concrete funding at this point has caused us to make some very difficult and painful decisions that will impact the speed of our growth but will also impact multiple upstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to our company.

In terms of increasing competition from the likes of Verizon, Morrow said that Clearwire does not have to "dethrone the big incumbents" in order to be successful. He pointed to the recent trials of the Clearwire LTE network in Phoenix and stressed the company's strong spectrum position.

Morrow also answered an analyst's question about T-Mobile's claims that it operates the fastest 4G network, noting that customers react positively to "true" 4G speeds.

"Capacity is king when you consider seven gigabyte consumption," said Morrow. "So, from our point of view, when we look a this, we really like the fact what we deliver to our customers -- and most of them don't understand 3G and 4G, and quite frankly don't care."