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4G Carrier Clearwire Making Cuts

Kirkland, Wash. – Mobile WiMAX
network operator

Clearwire

is exceeding
its subscriber targets but nonetheless launched an aggressive round of cost
reductions to conserve cash in case it’s unable to raise enough money to
continue expanding its 4G network.

 The carrier said the cuts, including a 15
percent cut in staff, will deliver “potential cost savings of between $100
million to $200 million in 2010 and again in the first half of 2011.”

 
Revenues grew 114 percent in the third quarter to $147 million, but the
company’s operating loss grew 85 percent to $539.7 million, compared with the
year-ago period, following a second-quarter operating loss of $520.8 million
and first-quarter loss of $407.2 million.

 
“While we continue to exceed our subscriber and operational goals, we
have not yet secured future funding, and prudence dictates that we take
appropriate cash conservation steps to reduce costs,” Clearwire said in a statement.
To raise additional capital, the company “is in discussions with a number of
its major shareholders and other third parties about a number of options,
including potential strategic transactions, additional debt or equity
financings, and/or asset sales [including excess spectrum].” The carrier said
it is “cautiously optimistic that we will resolve our short-term funding needs
in the near future.”

 
Clearwire markets 4G service under its own Clear brand direct to
consumers as well as through wholesale partners such as Sprint.

 The cost reductions, described as “significant
cash conservation measures,” include a substantial reduction in sales and
marketing spending; a suspension of additional direct-to-consumer retail-channel
launches of Clear-branded operations in select markets, including Denver and
Miami; delays in the introduction of Clear-branded smartphones; a “substantial
reduction” in the contractor workforce, a 15 percent reduction in the number of
employees; and the discontinuation of development activities for sites not
required for its current build plan.

  The company
said thousands of sites beyond its current buildout plan are in various stages
of planning and construction and that it will suspend zoning and permitting in some
of those sites until additional funding becomes available.

 As of Nov. 1, the company’s domestic 4G
coverage reached approximately 82 million people in launched markets, including
recently launched New York City. Including areas not yet commercially launched,
Clearwire’s 4G network reaches about 100 million people. By year’s end, the
company will expand coverage to 120 million people, including those in San
Francisco and Los Angeles.

 As for subscribers, the company expects to end
the year with more than 4 million subscribers, almost doubling the company’s original
2010 expectation of just more than 2 million, said CEO Bill Morrow.

 For the quarter ending September, total
subscribers hit 2.84 million, up 402 percent year over year, with total net
subscriber additions of 1.23 million. Third-quarter net ads included 150,000 direct,
or retail, additions and 1.1 million wholesale additions. The latter includes 3G/4G
devices that consumers are using in areas where Clearwire hasn’t yet launched 4G
service, but the company expects to receive nominal revenue from them in the
future. As of September 30, about 45 percent of the company’s wholesale
subscribers resided outside of Clearwire’s launched markets.

 
The third-quarter subscriber base consisted of 1.01 million direct, or retail,
subscribers and 1.83 million wholesale subscribers, marking the first time that
the company’s wholesale subscriber base exceed its direct subscriber base.

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