US WiMax operator Clearwire announced yesterday that its CEO, Bill Morrow, was resigning. He will be replaced on an interim basis by John Stanton, the current chairman.
Morrow’s resignation was part of a wider management shake-up at the WiMax…
US WiMax operator Clearwire announced yesterday that its CEO, Bill Morrow, was resigning. He will be replaced on an interim basis by John Stanton, the current chairman.
Morrow’s resignation was part of a wider management shake-up at the WiMax wholesaler.
The chief commercial officer, Mike Sievert, and the CIO, Kevin Hart, are also both leaving the company.
The CFO, Erik Prusch, has been promoted to the new position of COO.
The senior vice president and treasurer, Hans Cochran, has been promoted to CFO.
In December, Craig McCaw resigned as the company’s chairman.
According to Clearwire’s statement, Bill Morrow resigned for personal reasons.
John Stanton commended Morrow for his tremendous leadership.
Stanton added: “Together, the entire management team at Clearwire remains focused on delivering value to its customers and shareholders.”
The company also said that the management changes are not expected to affect the company’s progress towards an agreement with Sprint Nextel over wholesale pricing.
It said that it still believes an agreement with Sprint is “imminent”.
It used the same wording in a similar statement on 17 February, but has not given notice of any further developments since then.
The resignations come swiftly on the tail of reports that Sprint and T-Mobile USA have held talks over a potential merger of their US mobile businesses.
Sprint holds a 54% stake in Clearwire. It declined to comment on Clearwire’s management changes.
The CEO of Sprint, Dan Hesse, reportedly said on 9 March that every option for the company’s future involved Clearwire and WiMAX technology.
Hesse was also cited saying that he would like Sprint to do more network sharing with Clearwire, and that his company was also considering a spectrum hosting agreement.
Clearwire told TelecomFinance that it would remain central to Sprint’s 4G strategy because of its “unique spectrum position”.
It also said that a study it commissioned from the Yankee Group showed that Clearwire has almost twice as much spectrum available as US mobile leaders AT&T or Verizon.
