Clearwire still sees challenges after FCC OK

Benjamin Wolff, CEO of Clearwire, said its work is just beginning after the Federal Communications Commission's approval Tuesday of the company's joint venture with Sprint Nextel. The FCC voted on Tuesday to allow Clearwire and Sprint to form New Clearwire, a service provider that will combine the frequencies held by both entities and eventually build a national mobile broadband network. But the two carriers still only have one commercially available mobile WiMax network between them, in Baltimore, and the national infrastructure will have to be built from scratch in a harsh economic environment. "I think the challenges are just beginning, to be candid," Wolff said. He cited the logistics of deploying as many as 37,000 cells, making sure technology from several infrastructure providers works together and working with device manufacturers to design products that are easy for consumers to use. Unlike cell phones, those will be sold by retailers, with no carrier subsidy.