Clearwire stock is tanking -- off 20% in just a few short days. The stock dip is due to buyer's remorse. Idiots jump on IPO's with the fervor of a visitor in Vegas with a spare $10 spot. Some of the reality of McCaw's Clearwire:
"Clearwire lost $284.2 million on revenue of $100.2 million last year, and it expects to need a fortune more to build out its planned IEEE 802.16e-2005 based nationwide network. There are estimates of between $5 billion and $10 billion, and the company doesn't have many customers. As of the end of 2006, its U.S. network is deployed in 34 markets across more than 350 municipalities, covering an estimated 8.6 million people. It also has a footprint covering another million folks in Brussels, Belgium; and in Dublin, Ireland. But the carrier reported only 206,200 subscribers at the end of 2006, according to its IPO prospectus." [Telecomweb]
And my favorite is that this company is gambling on a non-standard that is unproven.
Some of it may be that people just remembered that McCaw may be a billionaire but his ventures in satellite and telco were a disaster. McCaw was the founder of Nextlink which became XO -- and lost about $7B according to Telecomweb.
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