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The worsening financial environment that has stymied the sale of Embarq, made short-term borrowing more expensive for AT&T, and generally made credit hard to come by, could also slow the deployment of the Clearwire nationwide network. The company and analysts say the joint venture that will link Sprint’s and Clearwire’s WiMAX spectrums should close before the end of the year, but building a nationwide network might take longer if debt stays expensive.

When asked if the current credit crunch would affect Clearwire’s ability to build out its network,  Susan Johnston, a spokeswoman for Clearwire, emailed the following statement: “The nationwide build plan for the new Clearwire is ambitious, and we believe it’s the right thing to do for our business. However, we have the flexibility to modulate our rate of growth, and will tap into the capital markets when the conditions are favorable.”

Translation: Clearwire’s smart enough to realize that it will take more time to sell the at least $2 billion in debt needed to bridge the gap between the costs of a total network buildout and the $3.2 billion in cash it receives after its joint venture closes. Christopher King, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus who said he was surprised Clearwire’s stock was holding up as well as it is, adds, “Clearwire clearly needs access to capital more so than any other telco we cover in order to meet its business model … but this is not a death knell for the company.”

Like Johnston, King pointed out that the company has flexibility on the timing of its network buildout, although he said estimates of a $2 billion gap were on the low end; he estimates the company could need as much as $5 billion. It appears that Clearwire will be like most firms facing the downturn — ready to hold off on purchases until things look a little better. That would be a shame for equipment companies like Motorola or Alvarion as well as for those of us eager to try out a new wireless broadband network.

Sprint and Samsung have declared mobile WiMax to be ready for launch in Baltimore and Washington D.C. later this year. The two firms said on Thursday their trials met Sprint’s technical specifications, which means mobile WiMax is now out of the gate in an urban area. Previous deployments have focused on rural areas, fixed WiMax or a similar service that isn’t true WiMax, so this could be mobile WiMax’s big test. Let the network upgrades begin.

When it comes to wireless broadband, WiMAX is one technology that has some bad juju. You have two of its premier proponents in the U.S., Clearwire and Sprint, riding leaky boats in rocky financial seas. You have LTE as a potential competitor, thanks to backing from AT&T and Verizon. And now there is a new report out that says WiMAX causes interference with satellite communications transmitted in the C band frequency.

Of course one has to take the report with a pinch of salt since it has been released by Florida-based Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group (SUIRG), which has conflicts up the wazoo. They conducted tests to “measure interference levels generated by fixed WiMAX transmissions into an FSS satellite receiving station.” The tests found that the “WiMAX transmit signal could cause significant problems to a satellite digital signal well in excess of 12 km distance.”

A sharp reader points out that this is a problem with 3.5 Ghz fixed wireless/WiMAX solutions, which is different from the spectrum Sprint & Clearwire are using/planning to use. 3.5 Ghz is very popular for WiMAX in overseas markets.

Any readers who are experts in satellite communications, and want to read the report, we would love to hear from you as to what you make of this whole issue.

Sprint Nextel (S) and Clearwire (CLWR), two companies that are betting the farm on building out WiMAX networks, are getting no love from Wall Street analysts. Sprint just reported a disastrous quarter, and the continuing decline in revenues and subscribers might result in lower spending on its WiMAX efforts. Similarly, Clearwire is not growing fast enough to satisfy investors.

Pali Research analyst Walter Piecyk downgraded the Clearwire stock to sell, saying the recently launched PC Card is not selling as well as had been expected. He cites two reasons for the slow sales: high price point vs. CDMA PC cards, and lack of awareness. Piecyk is very concerned that the cost of deployment of WiMAX is going to be higher than expected; he thinks cap-ex could top a billion dollars in 2008.

Wall Street has been clamoring for Sprint and Clearwire to merge their WiMAX operations and create a new company with a massive national footprint. The Wall Street Journal quotes Sprint’s acting CEO as saying that they are having “discussions” with Clearwire. The merits of that argument are understandable, but the reality is that it is unlikely to happen till Sprint finds a new CEO and the management team can finally get its strategy together.

It is important to note that Wall Street goes through phases of “new technology induced depression.” The early phase of deployment of new wireless and broadband technologies is one that’s full of uncertainty, but in the long term, bets on new technologies boost the respective companies involved. Sprint went through this shift with its PCS rollout, and more recently, Verizon (VZ) with its FiOS rollout. I guess WiMAX, despite all its potential, is going through that phase right now.