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Clearwire shows decline in Q4, 2012 revenues

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V&D Bureau
New Update

Clearwire, provider of 4G wireless broadband services in the US has reported 14 percent year-over-year revenue decline in Q4, 2012 registering $311.2 million.

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The decline was primarily due to the expected year over year decline in wholesale revenue.

The Q4 wholesale revenue of $116.6 million, was relatively flat compared to third quarter 2012 wholesale revenue of $116.5 million, and down 29 percent year-over-year, reflecting the fixed wholesale WiMAX revenue terms of the 4G MVNO Agreement with Sprint. Retail revenue and other

revenue decreased 2 percent year-over-year to $194.7 million in Q4, 2012.

Total revenue for full year 2012 increased 1 percent year-over-year to $1.26 billion driven by retail revenues which increased by 5 percent to $795.6 million in 2012 from $758.3 million in 2011.

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"In fourth quarter 2012, we have once again delivered solid results resulting in top-line growth and 50 percent year over year improvement in full year adjusted EBITDA loss in 2012," said Erik Prusch, president and CEO of Clearwire.

Our full year 2012 results demonstrate our continued focus on reducing costs, managing revenues and liquidity, and providing exceptional service to our customers during a transition period as we build an LTE network equipped to provide wireless consumers the speeds and capacity they desire added Prusch.

Clearwire ended fourth quarter 2012 with approximately 9.6 million total subscribers, down 8 percent from 10.4 million subscribers at the end of fourth quarter 2011. The subscriber base consists of approximately 1.4 million retail subscribers and 8.2 million wholesale subscribers, reflecting 9,000 retail net subscriber additions and 915,000 wholesale net subscriber losses during fourth quarter 2012. The decline in wholesale subscribers, which consist primarily of Sprint 3G/4G smartphone customers, is primarily due to the discontinuation of postpaid WiMAX offerings by Sprint.

Full year 2012 Adjusted EBITDA improved by $157.0 million year-over-year to a loss of $156.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA in fourth quarter 2012 was a loss of $46.0 million, representing a $68.5 million decline compared to fourth quarter 2011 Adjusted EBITDA of $22.5 million. The decrease is

primarily due to lower revenue in fourth quarter 2012 compared to the prior year period.

Fourth quarter 2012 capex of $102 million related primarily to the deployment of Clearwire's LTE network as well as ongoing maintenance of our mobile WiMAX network, and increased $68 million and $79 million, respectively, as compared to $34 million in third quarter 2012 and $23 million of capex in fourth quarter 2011.

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