It looks like there’s some more bad news for Clearwire, as Google has sold its stake in the mobile broadband company for a substantial loss. Having one of the most influential players in the mobile space turn its back on you can’t be a good sign.
Google said it is selling its 6 percent stake in Clearwire for a 94 percent loss. In total, Google will be losing $453 million for betting on Clearwire.
Now that Google is out of the game, Sprint is going to have to take a larger burden. A report from Bloomberg said Sprint will be seeking to raise $2 billion in debt and much of that may go to fund Clearwire and its mobile broadband network.
As for Google, the bad investment isn’t really going to hurt it that much and investing in Clearwire was likely the right move at the time. One could argue that Clearwire’s WiMax 4G network pushed other carriers to bring out the 4G LTE networks earlier and the more people who are accessing the Internet on the go benefits Big G.
[Via ZDNet]