Intel Invests $600M in Clearwire

Staff Reporter -- Electronic News, 7/6/2006

Intel Capital, the capital investment arm of Intel Corp., is set to invest $600 million in high-speed wireless broadband services provider Clearwire Corp. in the interest of developing WiMAX technology.

Intel's $600 million investment will be the largest investment in the organization's history. The news comes a week after Intel announced the sale of its wireless handheld business for $600 million in cash to Marvell Technology Group.

Motorola has also gotten into the WiMAX investment game. As another part of the "series of transactions" that Clearwire announced Wednesday, Motorola is set to acquire Clearwire's subsidiary NextNet Wireless, a provider of OFDM-based non-line-of-sight wireless broadband infrastructure equipment, for an undisclosed amount. Motorola Ventures is participating along with Intel Capital in the private financing round with Clearwire, which the company said is expected to total $900 million.

Following the closing of the transactions, Motorola will supply wireless broadband equipment for Clearwire's existing and future networks globally. To encourage the proliferation of mobile WiMAX in PC clients, Intel said it will work to include WiMAX chipsets in next generation mobile computing platforms. All three parties will contribute significant research and development resources to evolve NextNet Wireless' pre-WiMAX technologies.

"Collaborating with Intel and Motorola significantly advances our vision for fixed, portable and mobile wireless broadband services," Craig McCaw, Clearwater's chairman and co-CEO, said in a statement. "Wireless broadband networks will enable the creation and delivery of differentiated services and applications that enhance the way people communicate and experience the Internet."

"These agreements mark a significant milestone for Clearwire," Ben Wolff, co-CEO of Clearwire, added in the statement. "We believe that there is strong demand for wireless broadband connectivity that is simple, fast, reliable and affordable. Working together with Intel and Motorola to deploy mobile WiMAX technology will provide us with the benefits of a standards-based platform, which will further enhance our efforts to address this demand."

The funding and acquisition has promoted Clearwire to cancel its planned IPO. For more of that story, click here.