(Clearwire Communications, LLC, Bellevue, WA) A wireless Internet service provider (WISP) that offered mobile and fixed WiMAX service under the CLEAR brand. Clearwire merged its WiMAX network with Sprint Nextel's Xohm-branded WiMAX network in 2008, providing download speeds up to 6 Mbps. In 2013, Sprint acquired Clearwire and notified customers that WiMAX would be ended in late 2015. Users not switching to Sprint's 4G service could continue to use 3G if their devices supported both WiMAX and 3G. Clearwire was spun off from Texas-based Sierra Technologies in 1998 and was acquired by Craig McCaw in 2003. See
WiMAX and
WISP.