[Satellite TODAY Insider 09-23-11] Clearwire may sell off a portion of its 4G spectrum if approached by an interested buyer, the company’s CFO Hope Cochran said during a Sept. 21 investor conference call.

   Clearwire gained strong momentum after launchings its 4G wireless services, but not enough to generate sufficient cash reserves and prevent cost-cutting measures. The company recently nixed its plans to announce a formal spectrum sale after obtaining financing deals and settling a pricing dispute with its majority owner and largest wholesale customer Sprint Nextel.

   Cochran, however, said that the company would consider an offer made by interested buyers if the right opportunity arose. “The spectrum is a great asset, and we have a lot of it. It would be difficult to utilize all of it,” she said. “We had previously considered selling spectrum but ended up not needing thanks to friendlier debt markets. We understand that it is becoming more apparent that spectrum is a scarce resource and that these assets are rising in value.”

   Clearwire may find plenty of competitors eager to take some of its 4G spectrum off its hands. AT&T has been in the process of acquiring Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile in order to gain access to its spectrum. Cochran said that even with the spectrum obtained by the merger, AT&T would still be left with shortages.

   "Either separate or together, there’s still a spectrum constraint situation. That’s something we can help. We understand our relationship with Sprint may lead some to believe we’re in competition, but Clearwire has been trying to transform into the ‘Switzerland of capacity’ and we hope to provide spectrum to any carrier that needs it. We have started supplementing the WiMax 4G technology that well sell to Sprint with the LTE technology used by Verizon Wireless and AT&T,” she said.

   Besides LTE, Clearwire still requires funding for its current network, and Cochran said the company could turn to financing from vendors or could tap the capital markets. “By getting other customers on that network, we can help the overall cost of operating that network. That’s something Sprint would enjoy and would benefit from that, as well. I don’t think Sprint would be against that but would be highly supportive.”