On March 7, 2007, Clearwire made waves in the telecoms industry by raising approximately US$600m in an initial public offering (IPO). Clearwire has been offering broadband service since 2004, using a network operating on Expedience, a pre-mobile WiMAX technology. Clearwire plans to migrate to mobile WiMAX, which will enhance the company’s offerings (especially in regards to mobile services with broadband and VoIP). At the end of 2006, Clearwire’s network covered a population of almost 9m. The company had almost 22,000 subscribers in four European markets, over 184,000 subscribers in 34 US markets in 11 states, and VoIP service in 13 of those US markets. In our view, Clearwire’s niche market strategy is sensible, and despite a number of operational constraints, we believe the operator is positioning itself to become a coveted acquisition target in the medium term.
