In the wake of the AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal, speculation has been rife on the future plans of WiMAX provider Clearwire, satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared and cellco Sprint Nextel.
Sprint in talks
Sprint has reportedly been in talks with both…
In the wake of the AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal, speculation has been rife on the future plans of WiMAX provider Clearwire, satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared and cellco Sprint Nextel.
Sprint in talks
Sprint has reportedly been in talks with both Clearwire and LightSquared about possible network sharing deals.
A deal with LightSquared would reportedly involve the satellite/terrestrial venture paying Sprint to use part of its infrastructure, while sharing some of its own spectrum.
This would enable Sprint to provide services in rural areas without the need for roaming agreements with competitors.
A deal between Sprint and Clearwire would also reportedly involve the latter using Sprint’s infrastructure.
In both cases, network sharing would allow the smaller companies to roll out their services at a relatively low cost compared to building out their own infrastructure.
Clearwire, LightSquared and Sprint all told TelecomFinance that they would not comment on speculation. The Clearwire spokeswoman did say that the company maintains a “close working relationship” with Sprint.
LightSquared set for IPO?
Separately, media reports suggested that LightSquared could file for an IPO, possibly as early as this summer.
A spokeswoman declined comment.
Observers believe that the company will need billions more dollars to roll out its network and meet an FCC target for the network to cover 238 million people by the end of 2015.
Roaming deal
What has been confirmed is that LightSquared sealed a bilateral roaming agreement with SI Wireless, a group of independent rural phone companies.
In a joint statement on 20 April, the companies said that the agreement would provide SI Wireless’s subscribers with LTE and satellite coverage in rural areas lacking terrestrial coverage.
SI Wireless provides services to customers in Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.
It is the latest in a series of partnerships announced by LightSquared, which operates on a wholesale-only basis.
