Clearwire Locked To WiMax Until At Least 2012 Says CEO

Last week Clearwire released its financials and among the bottom line tidbits was a statement about changing the agreement with Intel to let either party out of the deal with a 30-day notice. That change raised speculation that Clearwire might be considering a move to LTE.

Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow has clarified the change in the agreement with Intel and says that Clearwire does not intend to move from WiMax to LTE until at least 2012. The company will continue to support WiMax until then. Morrow states that the change in the terms with Intel is simply to give the company more flexibility.

Morrow told CNET, "No we haven't exercised that right [ditching WiMax], and I don't see the need for us to anytime soon. We won't be deploying LTE anytime soon and definitely not before 2012. But it does give us greater flexibility."