Clearwire hints at missing debt payment to extend agreement with Sprint (USA)
Clearwire Corporation, a U.S. based wireless internet service provider, has reportedly made a statement hinting at its inability to make a debt payment of US$ 237 million due on December 1 claiming that it would be a significant drain on the cash.
However, as per sources, industry analysts believe that this might just be a ploy by the company to receive financial support from wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp.
According to reports, Sprint being the largest shareholder in Clearwire, stands to lose the most if the carrier’s stock declines. Further, the two companies are co-dependent on each other; while Sprint relies on Clearwire to provide wireless service to its customers, Clearwire receives most of its revenue from Sprint.
Reports reveal that Clearwire claimed it needs around $1 billion to upgrade its network from the WiMax wireless technology to long-term evolution (LTE) technology. Further, sources say that Clearwire had $698 million of cash and short-term investments at the end of September with over $4 billion in debt.
Zain Malawi gets 3G Licence.
MACRA has awarded a 3G licence to Zain Malawi, which is expected to enhance high-speed wireless internet access.
Zain marketing director, Enwell Kadango confirmed that discussions that started between the company and MACRA since 2006 has finally borne fruit as its licence conditions have now been changed.
3G is the telecommunication hardware standard and general technology for the mobile networking superseding 2.5G system which will now allow speed in data processing,†said Kadango who added that Malawi is taking after most developing countries that are using this technology.
Currently Zain Malawi is about to finish its equipment installation across the country which will be compatible with the new system which offers fast downloading speeds of between 2-8mbps.
Malawi’s Zain CEO Fayaz King said 3G would also allow users to watch television besides connecting to the internet and make video calls.
TNM Limited, Zain’s competitor in the market got the licence sometime back but it is only now that the company has been testing it.
TMN reaches 750,000 clients with Mobile Broadband
Portugal Telecom’s mobile operator, TMN, has announced it has 750,000 clients with 3G and 3.5G equipment, representing 15 percent of the total (5 million), and giving it the leadership of the mobile broadband market in Portugal. Mobile TV, video calls, video sharing and broadband connectivity for wireless internet access are some of the services made available by TMN thanks to the new technology.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
Technorati : Operator, Portugal, TMN, Telecom
Ice Rocket : Operator, Portugal, TMN, Telecom
