Google dumping Clearwire investment

BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) � Something is dire at Clearwire Corp. when an early-stage investor like Google Inc. bails out.

Google GOOG �is selling its entire investment in Clearwire CLWR �for $47.1 million, losing approximately $453 million. Putting it mildly, this is not an endorsement of the next-generation wireless firm or its technology.

Clearwire was one of the many companies that attempted to commercialize the moribund WiMax invention, promoted primarily by Intel Corp. INTC �WiMax began as a fiasco some years back, with a sharp tech writer discovering that Intel phonied up the whole demonstration for it by using Wi-Fi, not WiMax.

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That should have been enough warning right there.

The idea behind WiMax was that it would be Wi-Fi on steroids, that it could be tapped for miles, even in a moving car. From the earliest days, the technology had terrible interoperability issues from one vendor to the next. With clear specifications there is no reason for this sort of problem, unless there is some inherent flaw in the technology.

I always thought there was some potential once the interoperability problems faded and when vendors consolidated. This optimism was further bolstered by Lightwire�s deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. S , which developed WiMax coverage as an aspect of 4G service around the country.

Sprint would be the logical choice for this, having once sold a product called Sprint Broadband Direct � a wireless Internet service in the San Francisco Bay Area. It discontinued the product out of the blue, giving the excuse that there was a better technology it would eventually implement.

I suspected what they had in mind was WiMax.

Exactly what went wrong after that is sketchy, but it is now apparent that despite all the theories about WiMax and its issues, things were worse than imagined. The Google desperation sale says it all.

Simply put, the technology did not work at scale. People have surmised that there was no uptake of the technology for political reasons or poor salesmanship, or even because of the proposed AT&T Inc. T �merger with T-Mobile.

But all it takes is a look deeper into the various online forums to discover that this technology, which promised so much, simply crapped out when it was scaled up to what would have been a profitable customer base.

The forums are clear about this. The best one to look over if you are thinking that Clearwire has any hope of long-term viability is this one at DSL Reports. Poor service and reliability, customer-service problems and dubious billing practices seem to be the theme. The technology worked great, then became spotty and then stopped working altogether.

/quotes/zigman/112837/quotes/nls/clwr CLWR 1.30, +0.07, +5.69%

This is a classic scalability issue. It�s a failure of adequate testing, or of ignoring test results. There are no real surprises in technology.

Intel has to share the blame. Whenever I wrote anything about WiMax with a critical eye, I�d get a call or an email from the WiMax standards group grousing at me. In fact, it was always an Intel executive, since the company ran the group.

The chip maker should have known about this technology not working properly from the get-go. I appreciate wishful thinking and a positive attitude as much as the next person, but WiMax should have been abandoned sooner than later.

So the technology is now officially kaput. WiMax may linger in some specialty application where scale is not an issue, but it is not longer in any sort of meaningful conversation.

Expect shareholder lawsuits flying everywhere before long.