Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) announced this morning that it is going to roll-out wireless broadband in 18 additional cities this summer on top of the dozen or so markets already planned for the year.
More good news came this afternoon when the company said it achieved record-breaking subscriber growth in the first quarter. The markets reacted positively with shares rising 23 cents or 3 percent to $7.79 a share in after-hours trading. It added 283,000 new subscribers, which included 111,000 wholesale subscribers who were signed up through its partner network that includes Sprint (NYSE: S), Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and others. It ended the quarter just shy of the 1 million subscriber mark.
Interestingly, it said that one-third, or roughly 52,300 of the wholesale customers, are using dual-mode devices that switch between Clearwire’s 4G network and Sprint’s 3G network (even though those subscribers don’t live in a 4G market). Regardless of 4G usage, Clearwire continues to receive monthly revenue from them.
Because of Clearwire’s rapid pace of expansion, it continues to lose money. In Q1, Clearwire lost $94.1 million or 47 cents a share on revenues of $106.7 million. When compared to the year-ago period, Clearwire’s loss widened from $71.1 million or 37 cents a share while revenues increased 72 percent from $62.1 million.
The company’s outlook:
Growth will come from expanding into new markets and adding additional features/devices to the network. Clearwire has plans to do both in the remaining part of the year.
— Devices: The company expects to launch two WiMAX smartphones by the end of 2010. From Samsung, it will launch an Android-based 3G/4G/WiFi device optimized for heavy video and video communications use, and a 3G/4G/WiFi enabled phone from HTC. It’s partner Sprint is launching an HTC 3G/4G device this summer called the EVO 4G.
— Network: Clearwire continues to expect to cover up to 120 million people with its 4G network by the end of 2010. It expects subscriber levels to triple this year to more than 2 million.

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