US Wimax operator Clearwire announced plans to roll out LTE Advanced in large cities. The company has already been testing LTE and achieved speeds of 120Mbps in its 2.5GHz band spectrum. It plans to deploy a 'LTE Advanced-ready' network in dense urban areas, which it says will offer a "ultra-high-capacity" service superior to other LTE networks in the US. The LTE implementation plan, which is subject to additional funding, contemplates deploying Time Division Duplex (TDD) LTE technology, reusing its IP network architecture and upgrading base station radios and some core network elements. This will include the use of multicarrier wideband radios that will be carrier aggregation capable, allowing Clearwire to further leverage its spectrum. The company said it will continue with its Wimax network as well, which had 7.65 million customers at the end of June and is expected to reach 10 million by year-end. During the second quarter, Clearwire added 1.54 million new subscribers, including 39,000 retail and 1.50 million wholesale customers. Pro forma revenue rose to USD 293.7 million from USD 117.0 million a year earlier; this excludes USD 12.8 million of a USD 28.2 million settlement amount from Sprint for wholesale services provided prior to 2011. Adjusted EBITDA improved to a loss of USD 79.6 million versus a loss of USD 210.3 million in the first quarter and USD 271.2 million a year earlier. The net loss widened to USD 168.7 million from USD 125.9 million a year ago. After capex of USD 56 million in the quarter, Clearwire had USD 848 million in cash remaining. Capex for the full year is forecast at less than USD 400 million, and the company expects positive EBITDA in early 2012.
