- Grand Rapids City and Suburbs Now Benefit from Blazing Fast Wireless Speeds Connecting Laptops, Netbooks, PDAs, Smartphones and Tablets
- Regional Grand Rapids 4G Network Now Covers 306,220 people
KIRKLAND, Wash. and OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – April 26, 2011 – Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR, news, filings) and Sprint (NYSE:S, news, filings) today announced a significant expansion of the Clearwire 4G network footprint and key capacity upgrades for mobile broadband customers in the greater Grand Rapids metro area. The regional CLEAR® and Sprint 4G service area has added coverage for an additional 24,707 people. Now, more than 306,220 people in the Grand Rapids area have access to Clearwire’s 4G mobile broadband network. This expansion represents new coverage since Clearwire’s initial launch on August 3, 2010.
Enhanced capacity and expanded coverage can be experienced in the following communities:
- Grandville, MI
- Kentwood, MI
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Jenison, MI
- East Grand Rapids, MI
“The City of Grand Rapids has been an excellent partner since our launch last summer,” said Jeannie Weaver, director-sales, Clearwire. “The expansion of Clearwire 4G service provides more coverage and capacity to better meet the rapidly growing demand for mobile broadband connectivity across the region. Consumers, businesses and City of Grand Rapids Departments including Police and Fire have all recognized the important advantages of unlimited mobile broadband in carrying out their daily responsibilities.”
“It is my goal to make Grand Rapids a leading tech city in America. CLEAR is helping us to do that. I have been using CLEAR service since September and I love it!” said City of Grand Rapids Mayor George K. Heartwell.
“This is great news for Sprint 4G customers in the Grand Rapids area. Customers are hungry for our cutting-edge 4G devices and we are delivering – in fact, Sprint offers 14 devices that are available to customers today,” said Kevin Gleason, vice president-Retail, Sprint, Michigan. “We expect these service enhancements will ensure an even better experience for Sprint 4G customers in the Grand Rapids area.” Additionally, Sprint continues to invest in its 3G service in the Grand Rapids area – customers should begin to see improved connectivity and data speeds within the next three months.
4G customers in the Grand Rapids metro area can increase their mobility and productivity in many ways: from instantly downloading large files to get work done on the run, browsing the Web just like at home from across the city, or watching online videos and movies while travelling in the family car around town. A variety of 4G devices are available from both service providers.
A detailed coverage map of CLEAR 4G service is available at www.clear.com/coverage.
Additional information about Sprint 4G is available at www.sprint.com.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 49.9 million customers at the end of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
About Clearwire
Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR), through its operating subsidiaries, is a leading provider of wireless broadband services. Clearwire’s 4G network is currently available in areas of the U.S. where 120 million people live. Clearwire’s open all-IP network, combined with significant spectrum holdings, provides an unprecedented combination of speed and mobility to deliver next generation broadband access. The company markets its 4G service through its own brand called CLEAR® as well as through its wholesale relationships with companies such as Sprint, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Best Buy. Strategic investors include Intel Capital, Comcast, Sprint, Google, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. Clearwire is headquartered in Kirkland, Wash. Additional information is available at www.clearwire.com.
Unlimited plans subject to CLEAR’s Acceptable Use Policy, posted at www.clear.com/legal/aup.
Clearwire, CLEAR, and the CLEAR logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Clearwire Communications LLC in the United States and/or other countries. All other company or product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release, and other written and oral statements made by Clearwire from time to time, contains forward-looking statements which are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made with information that is currently available. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, management’s expectations regarding future financial and operating performance and financial condition; proposed transactions; network development and market launch plans; strategic plans and objectives; industry conditions; the strength of the balance sheet; and liquidity and financing needs. The words “will,” “would,” “may,” “should,” “estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “believe,” “target,” “designed,” “plan” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of Clearwire’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from such statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ are:
- We have a history of operating losses and we expect to continue to realize significant net losses for the foreseeable future.
- If our business fails to perform as we expect, we may require substantial additional capital, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all.
- Our current plans, and our expectations about becoming EBITDA and cash flow positive, are based on a number of assumptions about our future performance, which may prove to be inaccurate, such as our ability to substantially expand our wholesale business and implement various cost savings initiatives.
- We regularly evaluate our plans, and we may elect to pursue new or alternative strategies which we believe would be beneficial to our business, including among other things, expanding our network coverage to new markets, augmenting our network coverage in existing markets, changing our sales and marketing strategy and or acquiring additional spectrum. Such modifications to our plans could significantly change our capital requirements.
- We have deployed a wireless broadband network based on mobile WiMAX technology, and would incur significant costs to deploy alternative technologies. Additionally, such alternative technologies may not perform as we expect on our network and deploying such technologies would result in additional risks to the company, including uncertainty regarding our ability to successfully transition from the current technology to the new technology without disruptions to customer service.
- We may experience difficulties in maintaining and upgrading our networks, which could adversely affect customer satisfaction, increase subscriber churn and costs incurred, and decrease our revenues.
- We currently depend on our commercial partners to develop and deliver the equipment for our legacy and mobile WiMAX networks.
- Many of our competitors are better established and have significantly greater resources, and may subsidize their competitive offerings with other products and services.
- Our substantial indebtedness and restrictive debt covenants could limit our financing options and liquidity position and may limit our ability to grow our business.
- Sprint Nextel Corporation owns a majority of our shares, resulting in Sprint holding a majority voting interest in the Company, and Sprint may have, or may develop in the future, interests that may diverge from other stockholders.
- Future sales of large blocks of our common stock may adversely impact our stock price.
For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please refer to Clearwire’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the information under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on Feb. 22, 2011. Clearwire assumes no obligation to update or supplement such forward-looking statements.
Contacts:
Regional Media for Clearwire
Christopher Comes
312-282-0539 (mobile)
christopher.comes@clearwire.com
Regional Media for Sprint
Lisa Ketteler
913-315-1868
lisa.b.ketteler@sprint.com
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