Clearwire signed up another wholesale customer today with the addition of Jolt Mobile, a provider of prepaid and international calling for GSM phones.
The contract will help bolster Clearwire's wholesale customer base as Sprint, its largest wholesale WiMAX customer, prepares to phase out use of its WiMAX network. Clearwire has added four new customers for its WiMAX network since last fall: Simplexity, FreedomPop, NetZero and now Jolt Mobile.
“Clearwire’s 4G network is a great fit for Jolt, enabling them to add 4G mobile data plans to their prepaid service portfolio," said Don Stroberg, Clearwire's senior vice president of strategic partnerships and wholesale, in a statement. "We’re thrilled to continue building momentum as the premier wholesale provider of 4G capacity to carriers in the U.S.”
Stroberg touted Clearwire's WiMAX network as a good fit for a "broad range of providers including national and regional operators, MVNOs, and non-traditional entrants."
Clearwire said its contract with Jolt Mobile may be eventually expanded to include access to its TD-LTE overlay network, slated for launch next year.
“By partnering with Clearwire we aim to give our customers a compelling 4G alternative to higher-priced carriers," Jolt Mobile President Avi Yroshalmaine said in the announcement.
Jolt Mobile's prepaid service runs on unlocked tri-band/quad-band GSM 900/1800/1900 phones and is compatible with locked AT&T phones and unlocked GSM phones from other providers.
Clearwire is still heavily dependent on Sprint WiMAX customers for its revenue. Sprint's WiMAX customers comprise virtually all of Clearwire's wholesale revenue and accounted for more than one-third of its income during the first three months of this year. Wholesale customers also vastly outnumber Clearwire's retail customers - it had 9.7 million wholesale customers and just 1.3 million of its own retail customers during the first quarter.
Sprint said last year it would not develop any new 3G/WiMAX handsets this year, though it did announce a tri-mode hotspot in May compatible with 3G, WiMAX and its LTE network. It will support WiMAX customers through 2015, even after it stops selling devices compatible with Clearwire's network.
Clearwire has said it is aggressively pursuing new wholesale customers. It announced yesterday it had joined the Rural Cellular Association, a move that will give it added lobbying clout and access to regional providers who could be potential customers.
Clearwire’s forthcoming TD-LTE network is a key part of its forward-looking strategy. The service is designed to provide supplemental capacity to companies looking to bolster their LTE networks in high-traffic areas like large cities.
So far, Sprint and Leap Wireless International prepaid brand Cricket Communications have signed up for the network.
"We believe that, as the demand for mobile broadband services continues its rapid growth, Sprint and other service providers will find it difficult, if not impossible, to satisfy their customers' demands with their existing spectrum holdings," Clearwire said in its most recent quarterly report. "By deploying LTE, we believe that we will be able to take advantage of our leading spectrum position to offer offload data capacity to Sprint and other existing and future mobile broadband service providers for resale to their customers on a cost effective basis."
Clearwire expects to have its first 5,000 TD-LTE cell sites up and running by mid-2013, part of the 8,000 sites it currently has planned for the service. New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago are among the 31 cities scheduled to go live next year.
Costco Is Close to Resistance - TradersHuddle.com
New York, June 5th (TradersHuddle.com) - Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) are trading very close to calculated resistance at $87.05. The stock ended the trading session at just $86.56, which is near levels that make it difficult to buy or start a position.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) operates wholesale membership warehouses in multiple countries. The Washington State based company sells all kinds of food, automotive supplies, toys, hardware, sporting goods, jewelry, electronics, apparel, health and beauty aids, as well as other goods.
Costco's stock range is defined by its calculated support defined at $81.98 and by the resistance level at $87.05; the stock is clearly over-extended from support, making it harder for participants to establish fresh longs.
Traders don't have a clear entry point for Costco. However, as the stock pulls back towards $81.98 it will definitely provide a reference point to establish a trade. On the other hand, if the stock breaks above its resistance level at $87.05 then traders will get an opportunity to enter the stock as it moves to a higher range.
Beggs: Wholesale Market Becoming More Consistent - Auto Remarketing
Sharing what Black Book editors observed for themselves in the lanes or what the commentary survey personnel reported back to the home office, Ricky Beggs indicated that dealer sentiment is becoming more consistent about how wholesale conditions are nowadays.
In his latest video blog, “Beggs on the Used Car Market,” the Black Book managing editor described how the firm handled its information-gathering processes after Memorial Day weekend.
“What a week we just had, as we took a little time to honor our military friends and then had to dig a little deeper to make sure we were reporting the complete market,” Beggs began. “The editorial team stepped up this past week with focused analysis after each one attended at least one physical auction and watching several more online.
“As we received the reports from our survey personnel all across the country there were many comments similar to the previous few weeks,” he continued. “It is consistent that the market is still not overly aggressive in trying to buy additional or fresh inventory.
“It’s also clear that much of what is available on the dealer consigned lanes could be from slightly aged inventory that was previously acquired when we were at or near the peak of the market, thus leading to a few more no sales this week or maybe even a winkled brow if it did sell,” Beggs went on to say. “It doesn’t hurt too long, but as we overheard one dealer say, he at least turned his offerings into cash. That’s the beauty of the auction industry.”
Beyond the dealer commentary, Black Book found that its wholesale price data is shedding light on a market that’s becoming more consistent, too.
Editors determined the number of necessary adjustments that were increases remained in the low 30-percent level for the third consecutive week. That stretch comes after an 11-week run where Black Book’s increasing adjustments fell between 42 percent and 69 percent.
And the average change for those positive adjustments — $78 to be exact — turned out to be the lowest increasing figure since the week ending Nov. 18.
“This represents another sign of a slightly softening market,” Beggs pointed out.
“Over the past week or so I have talked with quite a few automotive journalists, all asking about the softening of the market and the reasons behind this changing trend,” he continued. “It seems that the price of gas and diesel at the pump always came up in these conversations.”
Black Book noted gas ticked another 4.5 cents lower last week to an average of $3.67 per gallon, what the firm said is the lowest level since Feb. 20. Beggs contends the cost at the pump is why prices within all 10 car segments have now softened for three weeks in a row.
Last week, car prices dipped by an average $31 or 0.2 percent — a figure editors said was consistent with the previous two weeks. The four segments with the greatest percent decline for the week at 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent were also the most fuel-efficient models overall.
Looking over at trucks, the prices for these units dropped by same amount on average for the second straight week. On average, Black Book determined trucks dipped by $29.
Prices for only one truck segment climbed week-over-week, compact SUVs, which rose by $9. Black Book noted this is the only truck segment that has increased each of the past three weeks.
Clearwire inks wholesale deal with MVNO Jolt Mobile - FierceWireless
Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) inked a wholesale mobile WiMAX deal with AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) MVNO Jolt Mobile.
The deal, which will eventually include Clearwire's TD-LTE service when Clearwire launches that network next year, will enable Jolt Mobile customers to add mobile WiMAX broadband to their plans. Jolt, a subsidiary of Net Inc., offers prepaid service using AT&T's network.
Currently, Jolt's plans range from $40 per month for unlimited voice and texting to $60 per month for unlimited voice, texting and 2 GB of data. A Jolt representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how the MVNO will price Clearwire's services.
For Clearwire, the Jolt deal is the latest in a string of arrangements meant to expand its customer base. MVNO H2O Wireless, which also works with AT&T, has been reselling Clearwire's WiMAX service since February. In March Cricket provider Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP) inked a wholesale deal to use Clearwire's LTE network, which it plans to launch by June 2013. Clearwire is also providing service for Voyager Mobile, a startup MVNO. And FreedomPop is also taking advantage of Clearwire's network for its planned "freemium" mobile data service.
However, Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), Clearwire's majority owner, remains by far and away Clearwire's largest wholesale customer.
For more:
- see this release
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