Sprint partner Clearwire picks up Leap Wireless business

Clearwire Corp., the unprofitable wireless-broadband carrier, added Leap Wireless International Inc. as its second wholesale customer, in a sign it may be benefiting from rival LightSquared Inc.’s regulatory troubles.

No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which will see Clearwire supplement Leap’s own network using so-called fourth-generation long-term evolution technology over a five-year period, according to a statement Wednesday. Leap had entered a long-term wholesale agreement with LightSquared a year ago.

Clearwire is seeking new partners as it transfers to LTE from older WiMAX technology. With Philip Falcone’s LightSquared mobile-broadband venture grounded by regulators over potential signal interference with global-navigation systems, Clearwire has become a potential source of added capacity.

“In the lack of other spectrum options right now, we believe MetroPCS could also be considering a more formal relationship with Clearwire,” Jennifer Fritzsche, a Wells Fargo Securities analyst, wrote in a note today, referring to the Richardson, Texas-based pay-as-you-go operator.

Leap, which sells its service under the Cricket name, has always said it would explore additional 4G partners, Amy Wakeham, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.

“The Clearwire agreement provides us with another option for supplementing our own 4G LTE roll-out and for roaming in non-Cricket markets,” she said.

In December, Clearwire’s majority owner Overland Park-based Sprint Nextel Corp. signed a four-year wholesale-network sharing agreement with Clearwire worth about $1.6 billion.

Clearwire said last month that it may need new capital to fund operations beyond next year as losses widened in the fourth quarter.

This story was originally published March 14, 2012 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Sprint partner Clearwire picks up Leap Wireless business."