Clearwire: Intel agreement makes flipping to LTE in near term impossible

In Clearwire's latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the mobile WiMAX operator revealed that is could not flip to Long Term Evolution (LTE) in the near term because of an agreement it has in place with Intel.

Recently, Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow reiterated that the operator was open to switching to LTE in the future if it was in the best interest of the company. However, Clearwire has an agreement, known as the Intel Market Development Agreement until 2011. In the filing, Clearwire said it has "committed to undertake certain marketing efforts with respect to our mobile WiMAX services and are subject to certain restrictions on our ability to commercially deploy alternative wireless broadband or data technology in our networks through November 28, 2011, as long as certain requirements are satisfied."

Clearwire also stressed how expensive it would be to flip technologies even if a more technologically superior or cost effective alternative technology emerges.

For more:
- see this Unstrung article

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