Clearwire adds subscribers as losses mount
It is still losing money, but the company is growing subscribers and revenue, as it continues to build its 4G wireless broadband network across the country.
Clearwire is adding new customers to its 4G wireless service, as the company announces a 72 percent growth in quarterly revenue.
The company reported a loss or $94.1 million, or 47 cents per basic share. In the same quarter last year, it reported a loss of $71 million, or 37 cents per share. But the loss still managed to beat Wall Street expectations, which was expecting the company to lose 51 cents per share.
Revenues were also up to $106.7 million, compared with $62.1 million during the same quarter the year earlier. And the company beat revenue expectations, which were $97.18 million, according to Thomson Reuters.
Clearwire added a total of 283,000 new customers in the quarter. This marked much better subscriber growth than what analysts had expected. Most analysts expected the company to add between 153,000 and 238,000 new subscribers.
Sprint and cable operators Comcast and Time Warner Cable together own 55 percent of Clearwire. Intel and Google also have a stake in the company, which is building a nationwide 4G wireless network using a technology called WiMax.
Clearwire announced on Wednesday that it will be adding 18 additional cities to the list of markets getting the speedy wireless service this summer. But major cities such as New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., will still have to wait.
Together with investors Comcast and Sprint Nextel, Clearwire has been selling service in 32 markets covering 41 million people. Services are offered by Clearwire and Sprint in each market, as well as Comcast in select markets. By the end of 2010, Clearwire's 4G mobile broadband network is expected to be available to up to 120 million people across the United States.