zcallingcard.com

Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) is still considering a sale of some of its spectrum as well as new equity financing, and hopes to have one or both of those funding issues resolved in either the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year, the company’s CFO said.

Speaking at the JPMorgan SMid Cap Conference, Clearwire CFO Erik Prusch said the company had hoped to complete debt financing at the same time as a spectrum sale and new equity financing. However, he said the debt market was “hot” and that the company had to “pull the trigger” on its recently announced debt offering. Clearwire announced yesterday a debt offering of .33 billion. Clearwire could raise an additional 0 million if Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), which holds a 54 percent stake in Clearwire, decides to buy covertible bonds, something it has not yet committed to do.

“This definitely relieves one of the pressure points, which is the liquidity in the near term,” Prusch said. However, he cautioned that Clearwire still needs additional financing to continue aggressively building out its mobile WiMAX network; the company expects to cover 120 million POPs by year-end.

With regard to a possible spectrum sale, Prusch said Clearwire is exploring several different options, including selling off spectrum in regional or market-by-market chunks. He said in the top 100 markets Clearwire has 150 MHz to 160 MHz of spectrum, but said it is too early to tell how the spectrum auction process will turn out. ”We’ll evaluate all of that and come up with a market determination,” he said.

“We have seen good interest in our spectrum portfolio,” Prusch added. “And I can say we’ve been working very hard on equity for a while.” He declined to talk about new equity partners, and cautioned there is no guarantee that Clearwire will complete a spectrum sale or attract a new equity partner.

Sprint supports a wholesale agreement between Clearwire and T-Mobile USA, according to a Goldman Sachs analyst who recently met with Sprint executives. Clearwire has held negotiations with T-Mobile, but the status of talks is not known. Representatives from Sprint, Clearwire and T-Mobile declined to comment on the report.

Interestingly, Prusch said Clearwire will announce its priorities for 2011 and its buildout plans when it reports fourth-quarter results in February. Still up in the air is Clearwire’s plans for launching Clear-branded smartphones, as well as the company’s dispute with Sprint over payments by Sprint to Clearwire for Sprint’s WiMAX-capable smartphones.

For more:
- see this JPMorgan webcast
- see this Reuters article

Related Articles:
Report: Sprint pushed for Clearwire-T-Mobile wholesale deal
Clearwire plans to raise .1B in debt offering
Sprint, Clearwire bicker over wholesale revenues from WiMAX smartphones
Clearwire open to funding from T-Mobile USA
Hesse attempts to dispel concerns over Clearwire’s future
Clearwire cuts workforce, delays retail launches amid funding uncertainty
Report: Clearwire hopes to raise B by auctioning 40 MHz of spectrum

FierceWireless

Quick news from around the Web

@FierceWireless: Verizon CEO blasts FCC’s ‘unimaginative’ Internet proposal. Article (sub. req.) | Follow @FierceWireless

> T-Mobile USA and Samsung announced a lineup of new Qwerty phones, including the Samsung Gravity 3, the Samsung Gravity T and the Samsung  (pronounced “smiley”). Article

> Apple is adding more patents to its infringement claims against HTC. Article

> Car audio and electronics firm Clarion and Nokia announced they will collaborate on Terminal Mode, a technology the companies said will allow mobile devices to work with car infotainment systems. Release

> LG is betting on the success of its latest Android phone, the Optimus Q. Article (sub. req.)

> The Nokia N8 will be the vendor’s final Nseries device to run Symbian; subsequent Nseries gadgets will sport the company’s MeeGo platform. Article

> AT&T Mobility completed the nationwide rollout of its femtocell offering. Article

> Apple sold its three millionth iPad, 80 days after introducing the device. Release

> Motorola said 9.8 million of debt was tendered in a Dutch auction. Article (sub. req.)

> Spectrum Bridge, Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative & Telecommunications and Google announced that Plumas-Sierra County, Calif., launched a smart grid wireless network trial using TV white spaces spectrum. Release

Mobile Content News

> Only 19 percent of Apple’s App Store application downloads so far have been paid for; the other 81 percent of the App Store’s downloads were free. Article

> Digital entertainment services firm RealNetworks announced plans to reorganize its business and operational structure, eliminating 85 jobs. Article

> Google announced its web-based Google Voice communications management platform is now available to all U.S. consumers. Article

> Apple has revised its consumer privacy policy to authorize the collection and sharing of “precise location data” from devices like the iPhone and iPad. Article

Developer News

> More than half the 2,733 developers surveyed by Appcelerator, which provides development tools, believe Android has the best long-term potential among mobile platforms. Article

And finally… Honk if you love Jesus, text while driving if you want to meet Him. Facebook

FierceWireless

The FCC is hunting for more spectrum for wireless broadband use as part of its effort to make 500 MHz of spectrum available for mobile broadband over the next 10 years, including 300 MHz in the next five years.

The commission issued a public notice seeking comment on whether to allocate 35 MHz of the so-called Big LEO band for mobile broadband use. The spectrum, used mainly for weather balloons and satellites, sits between 1675 MHz and 1710 MHz. The notice, which said the comment period is open until June 28, is seeking comment on how the spectrum is currently being used, and if there is a more efficient way to send the traffic currently on the spectrum over land-based networks.

This new effort is just part of a wider push to free up spectrum. Last month the commission approved a plan to free 25 MHz of spectrum for mobile broadband on the Wireless Communications Services spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band.

In other FCC news, Blair Levin, the former head of the FCC’s national broadband plan task force, addressed the contentious issue of broadband reclassification, which the FCC is going to explore later this month at its open monthly meeting. Last month FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski pushed ahead with a new legal strategy that would allow the commission to implement net neutrality regulations for wireless and wired networks. Genachowski’s so-called “third way” essentially will reclassify broadband from a Title I information service to a Title II common-carrier service while at the same time forbearing from, or agreeing not to pursue, many of the regulations that are imposed on Title II services such as telephone systems.

In an interview with Broadcasting&Cable, Levin said that “10 years from now as we are trying to improve the way we handle this tremendous gift of broadband, we won’t be so worried about Title I and Title II.”

Telecom firms including AT&T (NYSE:T) have opposed the FCC’s reclassification efforts, arguing they will stifle investment. Levin, who used to be a telecom analyst for Stifel Nicolaus, said Wall Street is very comfortable with uncertainty, and that it just needs ways to measure that uncertainty. He said investors prefer to mitigate uncertainty, especially political uncertainty. 

“But I think it is a mistake to think that anything that the commission were to do would give it the kind of certainty that some people appear to be saying is required for investment,” he added. “I think if you look at the real numbers on investment, there are lots of things that affect it.”

For more:
- see this GigaOM post
- see this Broadcasting&Cable article

Related Articles:
FCC frees up 25 MHz of spectrum for mobile broadband
FCC to discuss net neutrality at June 17 meeting
FCC’s Genachowski charts way forward on net neutrality
FCC pushing ahead with broadband plan despite ruling
Broadcasters already battling FCC’s spectrum plan

FierceWireless