With this acquisition and assuming closing of other pending spectrum purchases, Clearwire's U.S. spectrum holdings increased to approximately 14.0 billion MHz-POPs, covering an estimated 223 million people with varying depths of spectrum. In addition, Clearwire holds approximately 8.7 billion MHz-POPs of spectrum in Europe, covering approximately 199 million people. Clearwire holds one of the world's largest portfolios of next-generation wireless broadband spectrum in the frequency bands identified by the mobile WiMAX standard.
Clearwire, founded in October 2003 by Craig O. McCaw, is headquartered in Kirkland, Wash.. The company launched its first market in August 2004 and now offers service in 38 U.S. markets, covering approximately 9.4 million people in more than 400 municipalities in Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin in the United States, as well as 1.2 million people in Ireland and Belgium. In addition, wireless high-speed Internet services are offered in Mexico and Denmark by Clearwire's partners, MVS Net and Danske Telecom.
