Clearwire cuts LTE deployment
Sadly enough, Clearwire has announced that it was to dramatically cut the number of planned sites to deploy LTE service – from 5,000 sites to 2,000 sites by mid-2013.
The reason, as explained by CEO Erik Prusch, is to coordinate its build-out with Sprint. Clearwire holds licenses in the 2.5GHz band. Prusch also added that it will save the company money by not building out the network before the revenue stream justifies it. Sprint will be offering phones that can use that spectrum in the second half of next year. CTO John Saw has also announced that Clearwire would have 800 LTE sites online by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, Clearwire has reported an overall decline in revenue compared to a year ago. The company’s subscriber base is up about 1 million from a year ago, now 10.5 million, but the majority of these are wholesale subscribers from Sprint. The company has stated though that it has enough cash to operate for a year.
