Sprint (S) Collapses Again As WiMax Patents Challenged

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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95129c_2Sprint (S) is down sharply today, heading toward penny-stock land. Shares are at $1.70, off their 52-week high of $13.90.

Much of the drop is due to its falling cellular subscriber base which contrasts to gains at rivals Verizon Wireless (VOD)(VZ) and AT&T (T). Sprint’s newest trouble could be just as bad.

Late last week, Adaptix, a WiMax service provider challenged several of the WiMax patents held by Sprint and its partner Clearwire (CLWR). The two companies are in the process of building a nationwide WiMax 4G network. It is safe to say that Sprint is gambling its future on the project’s success. If the network is completed it would allow the cellular service to provide faster wireless internet than its rivals’ current 3G networks giving it an important edge with customers.

According to Bizjournal, Adaptix says that six of its patents are in question. If the claims are valid, the legal action could significantly slow Sprint’s progress in moving to its new system

Douglas A. McIntyre

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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