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Clearwire in Mexican WiMax deal
30 November 2009
US WiMax pioneer Clearwire is planning to expand south of the border into Mexico via an agreement with a local media company, MVS
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MVS
WiMax
Mexico
Clearwire
Sprint
Intel
Google
4G
LTE
Comment: Sprint affiliate Clearwire is having to move fast to take up opportunities for WiMax before the LTE guys start to roll from 2011 or 2012 onwards. If MVS can set up in Mexico next year, the company will have a significant first mover advantage.
A Mexican company, MVS Comunicaciones, has reached a preliminary agreement with Clearwire and Intel to invest $700 million in WiMax technology covering 23 Mexican cities.
MVS and its partners are planning to deploy the wireless broadband network with the new technology by the second half of 2010, which is subject to its licences being renewed.
Clearwire, already a minority shareholder in the Mexican communications company, is also independently planning to cover up to 120 million people in the US by the end of 2010. Sprint is the majority shareholder in Clearwire, with other investors such as Intel, Google and a number of cable TV companies.
MVS, which provides publishing, radio, restricted television and wireless broadband services, is the majority partner in Dish Mexico, a satellite-TV venture with EchoStar. Dish Mexico has a partnership with Mexican phone and internet provider, Telmex. In the US Clearwire’s services reach 24 cities. GTB