Clearwire Moves from Wimax to LTE

Clearwire has moved away from Wimax towards LTE in a shift that cements their strategy of transitioning from a retail operator to a wholesale provider. Clearwire is selling its LTE network to any bidders now, rather than just to partners like Sprint as it has done in the past.

Clearwire has a history of selling Wimax wholesale to cable providers and retailers, but the move to LTE and its shut down of retail stores is a more significant move towards the wholesale market. This strategy also sets Clearwire further apart from other competitors as they focus on selling services rather than just capacity. As Clearwire transitions to LTE, they are focusing on a particular version of LTE called LTE-Advanced. It is going with LTE-Advanced because it is considered by the ITU to be the "real 4G".