AllThingsD » Xohm

Clearwire Sinks; Attractive Spectrum Isn't Enough

Eric Savitz — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:21:16 +0000

Clearwire shares are down sharply following negative comments on the company this morning from analysts at J.P. Morgan and Stanford Group.

The company’s shares gained ground yesterday following the completion of its deal to acquire Sprint’s (S) Xohm wireless broadband business; it also closed a $3.2 billion investment from Google (GOOG), Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (TWX), Intel (INTC) and others. But there are concerns that the company still faces daunting challenges, including a highly competitive market and a need for substantially more capital.

J.P. Morgan’s Mike McCormack resumed coverage with a Neutral rating, from Overweight previously. That’s an eye-opening change, given that Morgan was one of Clearwire’s advisers on the Sprint deal. He has a $6 price target on the stock.

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Clearwire as Mud

John Paczkowski — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:10:31 +0000

Ironic, isn’t it, that the nationwide WiMAX network created by the $14.5 billion merger of Clearwire (CLWR) and Sprint Nextel (S) is to be rebranded as “Clear,” since the joint-venture transaction that spawned it is about as muddy as they come.

With $3.2 billion in investments from the likes of Comcast (CMCSA), Intel (INTC), Time Warner Cable (TWX), Google (GOOG) and Brighthouse Networks, the new Clearwire has quite a few masters to serve, though CEO Benjamin Wolff insists none will have a direct hand in the company’s operations. “We have very little in common with a joint venture,” he said during a conference call on Monday, claiming Clearwire’s investors have no say in the timing of network launches. Hard to believe that’s the case when a $1 billion investor like Intel holds a seat on Clearwire’s board. But if it is, Wolff’s lucky. Because with Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) planning to bring a competing fourth-generation network called LTE (long-term evolution) online in the next year or so, Clearwire can’t afford any unnecessary distractions lest it lose that all important time-to-market advantage. “The credit markets are lousy” will only work as an excuse for slowed deployment for so long …

Xohm: No Long-Term Commitments Besides Baltimore Residency

John Paczkowski — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:01:12 +0000

Among the announcements forgotten for a moment amid the shrieks of agony and general keening on Wall Street today, this one from Sprint Nextel heralding a single-market launch of Xohm, its new WiMax wireless service. The company lit up only Xohm in Baltimore today, fulfilling its promise to have the service up and running by the end of September. That said, it’s still nearly a year late.

Still, it sounds promising. With downlink speeds in the 2-4Mbps range, Xohm is about twice as fast as current cellular broadband networks. Sprint’s service plans include a $25 monthly home subscription, a $30 “on-the-go” plan and a $10 day-pass program. All three require a PC card or modem and a subscriber agreement permitting Xohm to “use various tools and techniques designed to limit the bandwidth available for certain bandwidth-intensive applications or protocols, such as file sharing.”

So much for that “open network” promise. Well, at least Xohm is up and running, right? Sprint Nextel (S) first announced plans to deploy a nationwide WiMax network in August 2006.