Clearwire snags WiMAX leftovers

WiMAX operator Clearwire
has acquired the remaining WiMAX licenses from Oneida Communications for an undisclosed amount. Last year, Oneida sold the majority of its licenses to Sprint, but held onto an unspecified number, which now belong to Clearwire. The company did not divulge how many licenses each company obtained or which markets will benefit from the acquisitions.

In 2005, Oneida Communications Group was formed with the purposes of acquiring licenses in the 2.5 GHz spectrum, known as Broadband Radio Service (BRS) licenses, which are crucial to the implementation of point to multi-point WiMAX networks. That spectrum range has been found ideal for high-bandwidth, non-line of sight installations, and has been dominated by Sprint and Clearwire.

By 2008,
the two companies owned almost 85% of all BRS licenses, with Sprint holding approximately 70%, and Clearwire holding about 15%.

Bill Wilson, CEO and co-founder of Oneida said that before it began to sell off its licenses, it had more than 110 million MHz in PoPs (points of presence).