clearwire

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1146: Fighting firewalls with firewall

The Google China drama continues with some startling revelations about an Internet Explorer 6 vulnerability. And Tim from Kansas has an intriguing suggestion for how Google could reverse the Chinese firewall to get back at them. We also witness the dominance of the Nintendo Wii and the cheapening of some of Verizon's plans.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1146

New IE hole exploited in attacks on U.S. firms http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10435232-245.html http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/operation-aurora/ http://siblog.mcafee.com/cto/operation-%E2%80%9Caurora%E2%80%9D-hit-google-others/… Read more

Clearwire may consider 4G alternatives to WiMax

WiMax may be Clearwire's technology of choice today as it builds out its nationwide 4G wireless network, but the upstart carrier may eventually migrate to a competing technology that's expected to be used by most of the world's major wireless operators.

Clearwire's willingness to add additional 4G technologies to its network in the future will likely help it compete more aggressively in the future with other 4G wireless providers, such as Verizon Wireless. And ultimately this could mean more choices, better services, and more competitive pricing for wireless broadband services for consumers.

In an interview with … Read more

Clearwire raises another $920 million

Wireless broadband provider Clearwire said late Tuesday that it is has racked up another $920 million in debt to help it finance the deployment of its nationwide 4G wireless network.

The company had already nabbed $1.85 billion of senior secured notes due in 2015 to help it pay off an existing $1.4 billion debt payment. In total, Clearwire has raised nearly $2.8 billion in debt and equity in the past few weeks.

Earlier this month, some of the company's investors also kicked in an additional $1.5 billion in funding. Sprint Nextel, Intel, Comcast, and Time … Read more

Report: Clearwire gets more cash from investors

Clearwire investors are pumping in another $1.5 billion into the venture to help pay for the company's nationwide 4G wireless network, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The article cites two unnamed sources "familiar with the matter," who said that Sprint Nextel, Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks have all agreed to contribute an additional $500 million to the cause. Google, which had initially invested with these other companies, is not participating in this funding round, the article said.

Sprint and these other partners invested about $3.2 billion in Clearwire about 18 months ago … Read more

Mystery AMD executive in insider-trading case

Updated on October 23 at 3:00 p.m. PDT: with additional information identifying the person who is talking to the "AMD executive" and additional statements.

An unnamed executive at Advanced Micro Devices is cited repeatedly in the Galleon Funds insider-trading case, presenting a potentially awkward situation for the chipmaker as the case goes forward.

It's not clear if the AMD executive cited in the U.S. Attorney's complaint would be charged or even implicated by name, but government charges of insider trading have rattled Silicon Valley. Rajiv Goel, a managing director of strategic investments for Intel's treasury group, was arrested and charged in the case and put on leave, forcing Intel CEO Paul Otellini to publicly address the case.

And a high-level executive at IBM, senior vice president Robert Moffat, was placed on leave Monday after he was charged. Moffat is accused of supplying details about IBM and Sun Microsystems earnings to Danielle Chiesi, who worked for the New Castle hedge fund.

"If it's the top two (executives at AMD), that would be significant. But it could be anyone. Mid-level executives. We don't know," said David Wu, an analyst at GC Research.

"We are currently reviewing the situation and we have no further comment," AMD spokesman Michael Silverman said.

The case revolves around Raj Rajaratnam, who founded the Galleon Group, a New York-based hedge fund that manages $7 billion in funds. Federal prosecutors charged Rajaratnam and five others on Friday with securities fraud, alleging they were involved in insider trading of well-known tech companies, including Intel, Google, AMD, and IBM.

In the wake of the allegations, the Galleon Group said it will close, though the firm is exploring alternatives for its business that could allow parts of the hedge fund to survive, according to the Wall Street Journal.

AMD was prominent in the complaint, filed by the U.S. Attorney… Read more

Charges swirl around insider trading on Intel, AMD deals

Updated on October 21 at 7:25 p.m. PDT: correcting, at bottom, for what the U.S. Attorney's office describes as "CC-1."

Think of it as a twist on the old rivalry between chip giants Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. But this time, the rivalry is about which company can make a hedge fund more money.

The complaint filed by the government against six people on Friday details how a relatively obscure Intel treasury executive and a prominent hedge fund manager allegedly participated in an insider-trading ring centered on an Intel investment. The document also shows alleged insider trading of AMD shares by an adviser from McKinsey & Company before the chipmaker spun off of its manufacturing operations.

The case revolves around Raj Rajaratnam, who founded the Galleon Group, a New York-based hedge fund that manages $7 billion in funds. Federal prosecutors charged Rajaratnam and five others on Friday with securities fraud, alleging they were involved in insider trading of some of the most well-known tech companies including Intel, Google, AMD, and IBM.

Jim Walden, a lawyer for Rajaratnam, said Friday, "My client is innocent and we are going to fight the charges," according to The New York Times.

Rajaratnam, a native of Sri Lanka, got his start as a semiconductor analyst at investment-banking firm Needham & Co. and parlayed this into the Galleon Group, where he had a reputation for particularly aggressive information-gathering tactics.

And one of his contacts was Rajiv Goel, a managing director of strategic investments for Intel's treasury group and one of the six defendants.

Goel is not well known inside--or outside--of Intel. In fact, he is an Intel executive apparently so obscure that CEO Paul Otellini said in a television interview Monday that he'd never even heard of him--yet somebody who has dragged the chipmaker into the biggest insider-trading scandal to hit Silicon Valley in years. When asked about the case in an interview with Fox Business News Monday, Otellini said his first reaction was, "'Who's Rajiv Goel'--I'd never heard of this guy," the CEO said, according to a Fox transcript. "He's a fairly low-level guy." Otellini added: "People are people. I don't want to judge him. He hasn't been arrested. I think he's only been charged. If this is true, he's out."

Goel was, in fact, arrested on Friday in San Jose, Calif.… Read more

Report: Deutsche Telekom looks for 4G partners in U.S.

German phone giant Deutsche Telekom is looking to jump into the 4G wireless market in the U.S. through partnerships with U.S.-based service providers, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that Deutsche Telekom is looking to beef up its presence in the U.S. wireless market by investing in Clearwire, a company that is building a 4G wireless network using a technology called WiMax. Sources also told Bloomberg that Deutsche Telekom is also talking to Metro PCS, which recently acquired spectrum to build its 4G wireless network.

Deutsche Telekom already owns T-Mobile USA, the … Read more

Clearwire unveils largest WiMax test area

Clearwire Communications has created a sandbox more than 20 square miles in size where developers can play with WiMax.

Clearwire announced on Tuesday the launch of the largest test area yet for its 4G WiMax service in Silicon Valley. Covering a wide area from Santa Clara to Mountain View to parts of Palo Alto, the company's Clear 4G WiMAX Innovation Network will let developers test the mobile broadband network on a large scale.

First announced in April by Clearwire, the Clear 4G WiMAX Innovation Network is seen as a testbed to prepare for the launch of commercial WiMax service … Read more

Clearwire bets on fourth quarter for WiMax

This was originally posted at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

Clearwire said Tuesday that it expects fourth-quarter net subscriber additions to ramp as it rolls out its 4G WiMax service into more markets. That tipping point will be critical to the company's success--and possibly its survival.

On a conference call with analysts, Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow said that he was pleased with WiMax uptake in new markets such as Las Vegas. Morrow added that "fourth-quarter net subscriber additions will be higher than all 2009 quarters combined."

That's good since Clearwire projected a cash burn of $1.… Read more