| True enough.
But those are "fiber aggregation points." And they only represent 5-10% of their sites. That's just not a meaningfully large number.
And while that fiber could be coming from a cableco, it could also come from metro fiber provider, like Level 3, XO, TW Telecom, Zayo, etc.
Clearwire has said they'd like to have more fiber backhaul (who wouldn't), but it's either just not available or not affordable. So I guess they're primarily using this wireless backhaul strategy, as it's the only way to go.
One would think cablecos would make their plant available to Clearwire at reasonable cost. Given that Clearwire is their wireless meal ticket, and their traditional telco enemies are entrenched in wireless, and make lots of money there. But for whatever reason, that level of cooperation isn't there yet. |
