Clearwire goes official with mobile WiMAX, will use ‘Let’s Be Clear’ branding

With a $3.2 billion in investment from its new partners, Clearwire Corp officially closed on its joint venture with Sprint Nextel Corp. to offer WiMAX services under the Clearwire name.
Mobile WiMAX services will from now on be branded as “Clear,” ultimately replacing Sprint Nextel’s Xohm service name, which Sprint Nextel used when launching its WiMAX services a few months ago in Baltimore. The company also announced its accompanying marketing tagline, “Let’s Be Clear.”
Partners contributing the more than $3 billion to the new company are Comcast Corp., Intel Corp. through Intel Capital, Time Warner Cable Inc., Google Inc. and Bright House Networks. Clearwire also said it will receive an additional investment of $10 million from Trilogy Equity Partners in the coming months.
Clearwire leadership largely will stay intact under the new company. Benjamin Wolff, who touted the WiMAX promise at this year’s WiMAX World, will continue his position as Clearwire’s CEO and Perry Satterlee will retain his position as the company’s COO. The company will also inherit some Sprint faces; Barry West, CTO at Sprint Nextel, will be president and chief architect of Clearwire, while Atish Gude, SVP of Sprint’s Xohm unit, is now SVP and CMO of Clearwire.
Under the terms of the transaction, Sprint Nextel contributes its entire 2.4 GHz spectrum holdings to Clearwire, thus the WiMAX venture will have more than “100 MHz or more of optimal 4G spectrum in most markets across the U.S.,” according to the company.
The company said the network will provide average download speeds initially of 2-4 megabits per second and peak rates that are considerably faster.
“This is not simply about a time-to-market advantage, but about having an amazing block of spectrum that is unencumbered by legacy commercial uses and technology,” said Clearwire Chairman Craig McCaw. “It is a chance to do something right the first time, with simplicity and incredible efficiencies. We are building a wireless broadband network that will stand the test of both time and competition. This is far and away the most exciting opportunity in wireless I have seen since the beginning of cellular in 1983.”