Sprint and Clearwire Finally Get Their Act Together

I had no doubt an agreement between Sprint and Clearwire would happen simply because it had to. Sprint and Clearwire need each other. Sprint's entire 4G service is currently on Clearwire's network. Most of Clearwire's subcribers are wholesale subscribers, nearly all of the subscriber additions are wholesale subscribers, and those are just about all Sprint subscribers (mostly 4G smartphones). The cable companies that are MVNOs of Clearwire have not been successful in selling those solutions for various reasons. So Clearwire and Sprint are too entangled to let anything go wrong.

In addition, Sprint's future 4G plans need Sprint. Sprint's initial LTE plans were to essentially be "narrowband" LTE in a small part of Sprint's 1.9 GHz spectrum, similar to MetroPCS's deployment of LTE. Only further out would it be able to levarage 800 MHz spectrum that is currently being used for iDEN (which is being phased out). That leaves Sprint almost nowhere competitively - it would barely keep up with its competitors over time. All of the spectrum advatage Sprint had been touting for years was based on Clearwire's vast amount of spectrum. It has been technically non-existent since Sprint left out mention of it a few months back. Today, however, an agreement is in place that will have Sprint support Clearwire financially and technically, and will let Sprint have access to a spectrum-superior LTE network that will operate in TDD mode. The two companies will work together now instead of like two fighting siblings.