AT&T Offloads Spectrum to Clearwire

In a deal worth $300 million, AT&T will sell its 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings to wireless broadband provider Clearwire. Clearwire will use the spectrum to increase its WiMAX broadband Internet and VoIP offerings. The deal was necessitated in part by the AT&T-BellSouth merger. The spectrum includes the Education Broadband Service (EBS) and Broadband Radio Service (BRS) allotments. EBS is reserved for educational institutions and BRS is for commercial high-speed broadband services. Clearwire also announced plans to sell 20 million shares of stock in its IPO later this year, which it hopes will raise $500 million.