Struggling Clearwire plans to raise $595M in stock sales

In yet another step away from bankruptcy, wholesale wireless provider Clearwire announced yesterday that it plans to raise $595 million via two sales of common stock.

The news comes on the heels of Sprint’s massive $1.6 billion deal with the company last week, which grants Sprint unlimited access to Clearwire’s WiMax 4G network. The sale will add some much-needed cash to Clearwire’s coffers — the company has been struggling to be profitable over the past … Continue Reading

Sprint plans 4G LTE phones for second half of 2012

Sprint customers may have to wait longer than anticipated to get their hands on fast new 4G LTE phones.

Sprint CFO Joseph Euteneuer said yesterday that he expects LTE devices to be released in the second half of next year, while speaking at a UBS conference in New York City. Previously, Sprint has indicated a summer 2012 release for its LTE phones.

Euteneuer says it’s likely that the LTE devices will be released in the … Continue Reading

iPhone 4S data speeds will be significantly faster on AT&T than on Verizon and Sprint

AT&T has been maligned for years because of the poor quality and reliability of its network, but the wireless carrier was thrown a major bone by Apple on Monday with its new iPhone 4S. The iPhone 4S chipset supports the fastest 4G-like data speeds on AT&T, but only works on slower 3G networks on Verizon and Sprint.

The exact same iPhone 4S models will be sold on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint starting on Oct. 14. … Continue Reading

Don’t expect a 4G LTE/WiMax iPhone 5 today

We’re a few hours away from Apple’s next iPhone unveiling, but one thing we can be pretty sure of at this point is that it won’t support new 4G LTE and WiMax networks.

People “familiar with the company’s plans” say that Apple won’t be adopting the new cellular technologies, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Plenty of rumors and analysis over the past year made it clear that LTE is too immature for Apple to implement … Continue Reading

So long WiMax: Sprint preparing its LTE 4G network for 2012

Catching up with Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Sprint is gearing up to launch its own 4G LTE network early next year.

The LTE network is expected to arrive during the first or second quarter of 2012, CNet reports, citing people familiar with the carrier’s plans. It will be a part of Sprint’s previously announced  Network Vision plan, which will cost the carrier somewhere between $4 billion and $5 billion over the next three to five … Continue Reading

Over one-third of Android phones sport 4G

The plethora of 4G-equipped Android devices released over the last year has made the platform a leader in 4G. Thirty-seven percent of Android phones in the US offer some form of 4G, reports the app analytics firm Localytics.

That’s an impressive figure, considering that 4G Android phones accounted for just 22.6 percent of all Android devices at the beginning of the year. The number of 4G Android phones has grown more than 50 percent in … Continue Reading

Sprint may offer iPad as well as iPhone 5 this year

Apple has been working together with Sprint to develop an iPad compatible with its network, and it may be ready to launch together or soon after Sprint’s iPhone in October, reports 9to5Mac.

Neither Sprint nor Apple have confirmed that the carrier will be getting the iPhone 5 this year, but multiple rumors have strongly hinted that will happen. Most recently, Sprint blocked out dates for a “major phone launch” in early October.

It wouldn’t be … Continue Reading

Sprint offering wholesale 4G coverage

Sprint announced Tuesday that it will allow resellers to put their own branding on a handful of products on its 4G network .

Sprint’s 4G network uses 4G Wimax technology, which isn’t very impressive compared to 4G networks from other carriers. Still, for resellers it will certainly serve its purpose.

Initially, the 4G Sprint products include the HTC Detail (a.k.a. EVO Shift) and the Sierra Wireless 250U data card, but the company plans to offer … Continue Reading

LightSquared pays Sprint $9B to build its new 4G LTE network

Wireless carrier Sprint announced today it has struck a 15-year agreement with upcoming 4G wireless provider LightSquared, which could allow Sprint to move on from WiMax 4G to more-promsing 4G LTE technology.

The news is good for Sprint, which reported an $847 million second quarter loss. The LightSquared deal would give Sprint $9 billion in cash and credits over 11 years to build a 4G LTE network that LightSquared can sell wholesale and Sprint can … Continue Reading

LightSquared files proposal for new spectrum block

Wholesale wireless network provider LightSquared will move the launch of its wireless network to a new block of spectrum after tests showed its current network plans interfered with GPS-enabled devices, the company announced Thursday.

LightSquared filed a proposal with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch its network on a lower block of the wireless spectrum than initially planned. The company said its revised plans for the network introduce a new system that does not … Continue Reading

Sprint close to $20B LightSquared deal for 4G LTE rollout

Sprint is nearing a deal with wholesale 4G LTE company LightSquared to build and share networks that could give Sprint a whopping $20 billion, Businessweek reports.

Sources tell the magazine that the deal would span 15 years and allow LightSquared to build its LTE network more quickly, while sharing the cost of the rollout with Sprint.

It could be a win-win for both companies: Sprint is in desperate need of more cash and a LTE … Continue Reading

T-Mobile brings 4G to 10 new cities, hikes speed to 42Mbps

T-Mobile isn’t slowing down with network upgrades, even though it may be wedded to AT&T in a year.

The carrier this morning announced that it’s bringing its 4G HSPA+ network to 10 new cities, and it’s also moving forward with plans to double its 4G speeds to 42 megabits per second in some markets.

The faster speeds — which will soon launch in Las Vegas, New York and Orlando — will put T-Mobile well above … Continue Reading

1,000 tests prove Sprint's 4G network is a joke compared to Verizon's (updated)

Sprint may have been the first US carrier to deploy a 4G network, but it may be paying the price for being an early adopter of WiMax 4G technology.

According to a series of 1,000 speed tests conducted by BTIG Research in New York City over the past few weeks, Sprint’s 4G network gets download speeds of around 1 megabit per second on average — far slower than even 3G networks on rival carriers. By … Continue Reading

Intel buys 4G wireless software firm SySDSoft

Intel said today it has bought most of the assets of Cairo-based SySDSoft as part of an effort to move into 4G LTE communications.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The move is a shift for Intel, which has long supported WiMax as a strategic effort in high-speed, long-range wireless internet. But 4G LTE has caught hold, and carriers such as Verizon Wireless are deploying it in the U.S. The deal also shows that … Continue Reading

4G company Clearwire loses CEO Bill Morrow

There’s trouble brewing over at Clearwire, the 4G network company in which Sprint holds a non-controlling majority stake. Chief executive Bill Morrow has resigned from his positions as CEO and executive board director, citing the usual “personal reasons,” the company announced today.

Current Clearwire chairman of the board John Stanton will replace Morrow as interim CEO. Stanton was formerly the head of VoiceStream Wireless, a company that in 2001 was bought out by Deutsche Telekom … Continue Reading

Sprint's gadget plans: Nexus S 4G, EVO 3D phone, EVO View tablet

Sprint may be gearing up to take the upcoming CTIA wireless trade show by storm: The company is supposedly planning to launch a 4G version of the Nexus S, a 3D version of the EVO  4G, and a tablet dubbed the EVO View, Engadget reports.

Sprint has scheduled a massive two-and-a-half hour presentation at CTIA. That’s a sign that the company is going to launch some major new products. Most company presentations at trade shows … Continue Reading

LTE 4G phones for Verizon on the horizon from HTC, Samsung, Motorola

The first wave of smartphones for Verizon’s LTE 4G network will include entries from HTC, Motorola and Samsung, judging from the rash of early hardware photos hitting gadget sites over the past few days.

We’ve known for some time that Android manufacturers were working on LTE 4G phones, but the photos in the wild tell us that they’re closer to release than we’ve previously thought. Manufacturers are most likely gearing up to finalize their hardware … Continue Reading

T-Mobile takes the gloves off, says it has the largest 4G network in the US

Following the news of Sprint’s 4G network deployment in New York, T-Mobile is now boasting that it has the largest 4G network in America with 75 metropolitan areas covered.

The carrier says it plans to have 200 million Americans covered by its HSPA+ network by the end of the year. At first it will feature speeds of around 21Mbps, a significant bump from average 3G speeds of 2 to 5Mbps. The technology can be scaled … Continue Reading

Broadcom aims for LTE and WiMax 4G with $316M Beceem acquisition

Broadband chip maker Broadcom announced today that it has acquired Beceem Communications, a company that has developed technology to support multiple 4G networks, for approximately $316 million.

Beceem is the first company to develop a 4G “multimode platform” that can work on both LTE and WiMax 4G networks. Its technology can support peak speeds of up to 200Mbps and will give device manufacturers the freedom to build 4G devices without worrying what type of network … Continue Reading

On the GreenBeat: A123 opens battery plant, Siemens targets India

A123 opens largest lithium-ion battery plant in the U.S. The Livonia, Mich. plant will expand the company’s manufacturing capabilities by up to 600 megawatt-hours per year, with the goal of ramping up to a total 760M megawatt-hours by next year’s end. The announcement comes one year after A123 was awarded a $249 million grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As GigaOm notes, A123’s IPO last year opened at $17 per share … Continue Reading