LTE Network Likely to be Launched by Clearwire in 2013

Clearwire is expected to launch an LTE network by June 2013 -- with thousands of cell sites planned for the United States.

Engadget reported that Clearwire president and CEO Erik Prusch said during a recent conference call (on company earnings) that Clearwire will have 5,000 cell sites in the United States in June 2013 and will then add about 3,000 more sites.

The LTE network – likely made up of 2.5GHz spectrum – will replace WiMAX, Engadget said. An LTE trial took place in Phoenix. The company tested two configurations, Engadget adds.

In a related matter, Clearwire reached an agreement with Sprint in 2011 – which has Sprint paying Clearwire as much as $350 million, according to LTE World. The money will be prepaid over about two years if Clearwire meets agreed-upon targets and requirements of the network no later than June 2013. The agreement also set up prices for LTE services for this year and in the future.

In a related matter, Clearwire recently announced its financial results for the 4Q and all of 2011. The company’s total revenue for all of 2011 jumped 134 percent when compared to 2010, reaching $1.25 billion. The company said the increase was largely caused by wholesale revenue which skyrocketed 876 percent. It was $493.7 million in 2011 compared to $50.6 million in 2010.

In addition, Clearwire had about 10.4 million subscribers at the end of the 4Q. That is a 140 percent increase from the 4.3 million subscribers the company had during 4Q of 2010.

In a statement released upon the earnings release, Prusch said that during 2011, "we achieved key operational milestones, grew our funding resources, realized operating efficiencies and laid out a long-term vision that we expect will unlock the value of our deep spectrum portfolio through the most capacity-rich LTE deployment in the country."

In other company news, Clearwire recently agreed to a four-year, hosted software licensing agreement with Alianza, according to MobilityTechzone. Alianza will manage Clearwire's voice products and services, MobilityTechzone adds.