Clearwire Shakes Up Management Team
Cable-Backed Wireless Broadband Provider Names Three New Execs
Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 5/14/2009 11:26:44 AM
Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow on Wednesday announced the appointment of three new executives and the departure of chief operating officer Perry Satterlee.
Morrow, who was appointed chief executive in March by the cable-backed broadband wireless company, also shifted Barry West, most recently the company's president and chief architect, to head Clearwire's international division.
The company's new executives are: G. Michael Sievert, who will join as chief commercial officer; Kevin Hart, who will serve as chief information officer; and Laurent Bentitou, who will join as chief people officer.
Clearwire's majority owner is Sprint Nextel, which holds a 51% stake in the company. Other investors include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Google and Intel. The company merged its operations with Sprint's 4G business last November.
Clearwire did not name a replacement for Satterlee. West's new responsibilities will include overseeing Clearwire's international assets and heading its Global Alliance Partnership Program designed to extend WiMax initiatives with operators and industry associations around the world.
Sievert, joining Clearwire in the newly created role of chief commercial officer effective June 15, will oversee wholesale and retail sales, marketing and customer care. He most recently served as CEO of Switchbox Labs, which was acquired by Lenovo Group earlier this year.
Hart previously was CIO for Level 3 Communications, and Bentitou most recently served as vice president of human resources for T-Mobile USA.
Clearwire also Wednesday reported financial results for the first quarter, announcing 25,000 net subscriber adds to stand at 500,000 broadband-wireless subscribers.
The company posted $62.1 million in revenue, up 21% from proforma results a year ago (combining the Clearwire and Sprint 4G businesses), and a net loss of $71.1 million versus a proforma loss of $76.4 million in the first quarter 2008. Clearwire expects total net cash spending in the range of $1.5 billion to $1.9 billion for 2009. As previously announced, Clearwire is targeting coverage of up to 120 million people with the WiMax network by the end of 2010.
In addition, Clearwire announced an agreement with Cisco Systems, which will be the preferred vendor for IP networking equipment for the carrier's WiMax network and will develop WiMax-based devices for consumer and business markets.
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