Clearwire ARPU stable as network buildout ramps up

Clearwire Corp. added 12,000 net subscribers in its second quarter, now reaching 511,000 subscribers on its legacy and WiMAX networks. Average revenue per user was stable at $39.47, even as cost per gross addition (CPGA) increased from $449 in second-quarter 2008, to $524 in second-quarter 2009. Churn was up slightly, to 2.8%.
The carrier said it expects churn and CPGA to increase as it transitions legacy customers to WiMAX network customers and builds out its network.
The carrier, which turned on WiMAX services in Las Vegas and Atlanta this summer, posted a $241.4 million loss on revenues of $63.6 million. The carrier has about $2.5 billion left in cash and cash equivalents and expects it can access more funding if needed, said CEO Bill Morrow.
The carrier’s wholesale program is starting to gain traction as Comcast Corp. is reselling services in Atlanta and Portland, Ore., while Time Warner Cable said it will start reselling Clear services in four cities this fall.
Sprint Nextel Corp. is reselling Clearwire’s WiMAX service in Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth; Honolulu; Las Vegas; Portland, Ore.; Philadelphia and Seattle. The carrier announced the launch in 17 additional markets yesterday, including San Antonio, Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Corpus Christi, Killeen-Temple, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, Waco and Wichita Falls, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Bellingham, Wash.; Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.; Maui, Hawaii; and Salem, Ore.
Clearwire also announced that Huawei Tefchnologies Co. Ltd. has been added as a radio access network base-station supplier, and the carrier will use its equipment in Seattle and Honolulu. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Motorola Inc. also supply base stations to Clearwire. Huawei’s multicarrier base station is unique among Clearwire’s partners today, though the company said it expects Samsung and Motorola to provide similar equipment going forward.
Clearwire counts 2,200 employees today and expects to have 3,000 employees by the end of the year.