Clearwire to Trial LTE Network

Clearwire plans to conduct trials of LTE (Long-Term Evolution) network infrastructure, the company announced Wednesday.

The trials will take place in Phoenix in the fall of this year and early next year, Clearwire said in a news release. It will use equipment from Huawei Technologies and Samsung Electronics. It will work with dual-mode 4G chip maker Beceem and other partners to "determine the best methods for enabling end-user devices to take advantage of a potential multi-mode WiMax/LTE network," the company said. The trials will use the existing spectrum Clearwire already holds.

Clearwire is building a national WiMax network across the U.S., due to reach 120 million residents by the end of this year, but in recent months has given hints that it is open to adopting LTE. A large majority of the world's mobile operators that plan to build 4G networks are planning to use LTE. The two technologies are fairly similar.

In the trials, Clearwire said it will test LTE on the common Samsung base station platform it is currently using for parts of its WiMax network.

Also on Wednesday, Clearwire announced a second-quarter net loss of US$125.9, or $0.61 per share, which includes $79 million incurred in the second quarter related to inventory allowance increases and write-offs. Clearwire had a net loss of $73.4 million, or $0.38 per share, in the second quarter of last year.