EarthLink and Clearwire Announce Wholesale 4G Agreement

Clearwire Corporation, which is headquartered in Bellevue, WA, has been involved with building out next generation wireless networks for a number of years. The company holds a substantial amount of wireless spectrum within the U.S. and offers its own branded CLEAR service. However, Clearwire primarily serves as a 4G provider for a number of operating subsidiaries and through various wholesale relationships with key companies in the retail, technology and telecommunications industries. The company is constructing a next-generation 4G LTE Advanced-ready network to address the capacity needs of the market, and is also working closely with the Global TDD-LTE Initiative and China Mobile to further the TDD-LTE ecosystem. Clearwire is

Today, the company took a next step in increasing its wireless data access reach by joining forces with Earthlink to become the wholesale provider of Earthlink's own branded 4G capabilities. EarthLink's wireless service will initially target consumers for in-home use, and is expected to launch in early 2013. Future product offerings will include mobile devices and new services for small business customers.

EarthLink was founded back in 1994 and is of course a veteran (and in fact a pioneering) provider of both Internet services and a host of IT services. The company now serves over 150,000 businesses and one million consumers nationwide. To do so, Earthlink relies on an extensive network that spans 28,800 route fiber miles, 90 metro fiber rings and four secure data centers providing ubiquitous nationwide data and voice IP service coverage across more than 90 percent of the country.

EarthLink's offerings include managed services and cloud computing, managed and private cloud services, and virtualization services such as managed hosting and cloud workspace. The company also provides a portfolio of IT security, application hosting, colocation and IT support services. Clearwire's 4G network is a solid and complimentary extension to EarthLink's existing business, and it enabling Earthlink to easily add 4G fixed and mobile data plans to its diverse service portfolio.

"Customers are increasingly equating broadband services with wireless services and our wholesale agreement with Clearwire will allow EarthLink to offer the wireless products and services necessary to remain a leader in communications services," said Michael Toplisek, EVP of Products & Marketing for EarthLink. "The 4G broadband speeds and urban and suburban network focus aligns well with our long-term strategy for growing our customer base. We are excited to leverage Clearwire's leadership in 4G for both WiMAX and LTE in the future."

We will note as well that Sprint once owned a majority interest in Clearwire - though it recently decreased that share to less than 50 percent. Sprint is helping Clearwire fund the construction of Clearwire's LTE network. Clearwire is also working on a next-generation 4G LTE Advanced-ready network - which, when it becomes available will represent a true 4G wireless network. LTE-Advanced will address the mobile broadband capacity needs of wholesale customers in urban markets where demand for wireless data is extremely high.

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