Clearwire Q4 results offer mixed bag

Clearwire's fourth quarter results show the carrier has increased revenue to $45.4 million, up from $23.7 million a year ago. During the quarter Clearwire's net subscriber additions totaled 47,000, bringing its total subscriber base to 394,000. During the fourth quarter of 2006 Clearwire had 206,000 total subscribers. Despite the subscriber growth, however, ARPU fell 30 cents year-over-year: It was $36.09 for the fourth quarter in 2007, down from $36.39 in Q4 2006. Clearwire's churn rate increased to 2.4 percent, up from 1.9 percent a year earlier.

Pali Research's Walter Piecyk wrote in a research this week that the carrier "is essentially in a holding pattern as it negotiates a transaction with Sprint of the potential combination of their WiMAX assets and seeks an investment to fund the build out of a nationwide WiMAX network." Piecyk noted that the near term results are weak but irrelevant since the carrier is in "cash conservation mode."

For more on Clearwire's Q4:
- read this article from the AP

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