The future of Clearwire
But today Clearwire is soaring back to prices not seen since before that fateful LightSquared announcement. Rumor has it that Sprint and Comcast
A deal like that would save Clearwire from the brink of insolvency -- it's expensive to build nationwide 4G networks of one type and even more so when you've committed to two dueling solutions at once. Clearwire has $3.2 billion of net debt to service, and the interest expenses alone cost the company $129 million last quarter.
Sprint and Comcast also come with heavy debt loads, but they're balanced out by billion-dollar cash accounts and -- at least in Comcast's case -- strongly positive free cash flows. If these big rollers believe in Clearwire's services, technology, and/or treasure trove of wireless spectrum licenses, then this deal needs to happen.
I can even see Sprint and Comcast taking the next logical step in a three-way merger.
Think about it: AT&T
To be fair, Comcast would meet heavy opposition to such a plan from consumer watchdogs and regulators alike -- remember how hard it was to extract NBC Universal from General Electric
In the meantime, a joint Sprint-Comcast venture would make a serviceable white knight for the troubled 4G specialist. Keep an eye on these guys, lest you miss the next investable moment in telecom history:
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