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A week after the FCC approved Clearwire's acquisition of Sprint's WiMax business, the Kirkland, Wash.-based company released Q3 financial results today. In a release, Clearwire's CEO Ben Wolff acknowledged the FCC approval, and said the merger is on target to close by the end of the year. "With unparalleled spectrum resources, next generation technology that is commercialized today, key distribution partners and substantial financing, we believe Clearwire ( NSDQ: CLWR ) will be set to unleash a new way to Internet by offering a true mobile broadband experience for our customers. We continue to make progress toward closing the transaction before the end of the year." When the deal closes, Sprint ( NYSE: S ) will own 51 percent of the new company and Clearwire shareholders will retain about 27 percent. Google ( NSDQ: GOOG ), Intel ( NSDQ: INTC ) and a group of cable companies will invest more than $3.2 billion in the $14.6 billion venture to help fund the nationwide WiMax build-out. Release . Webcast . Here's Clearwire's Q3 financial highlights: -- Revenues: The company's revenues increased 47 percent to $60.8 million in Q3 versus $41.3 million for the same quarter of 2007. Clearwire added 8,000 subscribers during the quarter for a total of 469,000. The company is focused on upgrading its markets to mobile WiMax, rather than subscriber growth. In the nine-month period, revenues totaled $170.9 million. Last quarter, the company said it expects revenues for the year to range between $205 million to $215 million. Updated guidance was not provided this quarter. -- Net loss: Clearwire reported a net loss of $166.6 million, compared to a loss of $328.6 million for the same period in 2007. The 2007 period included a non-cash charge of $159.2 million related to extinguishment of debt. The company also was able to narrow EBITDA, which reflected a loss of $72.9 million, versus an a loss of $84.1 million for the same period in 2007. This was due...

As expected, the FCC has approved two major wireless deals: Verizon's acquisition of Alltel ( NYSE: AT ), thereby creating the country's largest wireless carrier, and Sprint's plan to spin off and merge its WiMAX network with Clearwire ( NSDQ: CLWR ). The approvals aren't much of a surprise from an agency that's already approved other major wireless mergers during this term. The FCC voted 5-0 to approve Verizon's $28 billion purchase of Alltel, Yahoo reports . The agency's two democrats dissented on some points, but eventually gave the green light to Verizon's plan to pay $5.9 billion and assume $22.2 billion of Alltel's debt. The FCC made some stipulations to the deal and is requiring Verizon ( NYSE: VZ ) to honor Alltel's existing roaming agreements for the next four years. It's also requiring Verizon to maintain the same roaming rates, divest service in 100 markets, and contribute to e911 accuracy and the Universal Service Fund. The FCC also unanimously approved the plan to combine Sprint's Xohm network with Clearwire, Yahoo reports . Google ( NSDQ: GOOG ), Intel ( NSDQ: INTC ) and a group of cable companies coughed up more than $3.2 billion to invest in the $14.6 billion venture. Under the deal, Sprint ( NYSE: S ) will own 51 percent of the new company and existing Clearwire shareholders will retain about 27 percent. In other news, Alltel released some third-quarter results that will likely please its newly approved suitor. Revenues hit $2.5 billion, a 10 percent increase from a year ago, while the company reported a $55.2 million loss, due to costs following the deal that took the company private a year ago. Alltel also added more than 1 million gross customers during the quarter, a 28 percent increase from last year. Overall, the company netted an additional 335,152 customers during the quarter. Average data revenues per user jumped 42 percent from a year ago to $8.99. Release . Our streamlined mobile application...

Clearwire's ( NSDQ: CLWR ) CEO Ben Wolff announced what the senior staff appointments will be of the new Clearwire, following its merger with Sprint ( NYSE: S ) Nextel's WiMax division, and provided an update on the merger and when they expect the FCC to approve the transaction in an email sent to employees. The full text can be found in a SEC document filed today . Clearwire and Sprint Nextel are in limbo as they wait to receive FCC approval on the merger between the two company's WiMax operations. Following the transaction, the company will raise $3.2 billion of capital from Google ( NSDQ: GOOG ), Comcast ( NSDQ: CMCSA ), Time Warner ( NYSE: TWX ) Cable and Bright House Networks. Woff wrote: "Clearly the infusion of $3.2 billion of capital together with the tremendous talent, resources and benefits to our combined organization brought through the relationships with our new strategic partners puts us in great shape for moving forward with our game changing business, notwithstanding the current turmoil in the financial markets." On shareholder approval: Wolff: "Last week we filed the second amendment to the Clearwire Proxy Statement with the SEC. We expect to be able to mail the Proxy shortly and hold the shareholder vote in mid-November." On FCC approval: Wolff wrote: "you may have seen Chairman Martin's recent comments in which he indicated that approving our transaction was one of his top priorities, and that he expected the approval to occur before year end, although we are making every effort in the hope of having the FCC act well before then. As a result, I continue to be confident that the transaction will close before the end of the year." On staff appointments: Last month, Wolff announced who the likely high-level execs will be when the two companies merge. The appointments will still need board approval. Today, he provided a detailed list of employees, who will report to those executives. A complete list is after...

A number of private-equity firms may be interested in buying Sprint's ( NYSE: S ) Nextel network, using iDEN technology, according to mergermarket via FT.com . The interested buyers may include TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners, which previously bought Alltel ( NYSE: AT ). Reportedly, at least one of the firms has also teamed up with former Nextel CEO Tim Donahue, who has showed interested in the network in the past. The price is estimated to be between $5 billion and $6 billion, which is far lower than the $35 billion Sprint paid three years ago. Of course, the price and the possibility of the spin-off happening is still entirely up in the air. The network has been integrated with Sprint's CDMA network, making it difficult to separate. Last week at a Goldman Sachs conference, Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse explained that although the company is interested in and ready to pursue a divestment of iDEN, it would only do so if it received a compelling offer. "Plan A is to reinvigorate iDEN, and we've recently launched four new handsets that run along it." Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.

AT&T ( NYSE: T ) has asked the FCC to deny a merger request from Sprint ( NYSE: S ) Nextel and Clearwire ( NSDQ: CLWR ), which the two companies announced back in May , stating: "While AT&T does not fundamentally oppose the underlying transactions, the regulatory process must be consistent for all entrants," AT&T's filing said. "The applicants themselves have positioned their company as the single largest holder of broadband mobile spectrum in the country," reports CNN Money . The issue is that Sprint and Clearwire have discounted some of the airwaves they intend to use for the internet service because it isn't operational yet, and if those airwaves were taken into account the merger would receive higher scrutiny… such as AT&T received when it bought Dobson Communications last year. Sprint Spokesman Scott Sloat counteracted with the news that "almost 50 public entities that have access to those airwaves filed comments favoring the merger". Related Judge Dismisses Two Claims In Case To Block The Clearwire-Sprint Nextel Joint Venture Clearwire Tells Investors To Expect 30.8 Million Subs By 2017 Sprint-Clearwire: Our Coverage In Links The economics of social media are continuing to heat up as more and more value and buzz are created in new and growing market categories. This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of investment into social media and the resulting value created from 2007 through 2008. Visit the ContentNext Reports page .

South Korea's SK Telecom ( NYSE: SKM ) is in talks to buy Sprint Nextel, the third-largest U.S. carrier, according to CNBC, Reuters reports . The report did not name any sources for the story, but said a deal between the companies would be friendly and that it would be the biggest takeover of a U.S. company by a South Korean company. Sprint Nextel's shares rose almost 14 percent after the report was aired. Sprint declined to comment and SK was unavailable for comment. Most recently, SK Telecom negotiated a merger between Virgin Mobile USA ( NYSE: VM ) and Helio, which was a joint venture between SK Telecom and Earthlink ( NSDQ: ELNK ). The merger required a lot of participation by Sprint, which both companies used as their network. Sprint agreed to cut the costs associated for the MVNOs. CNBC reported that any deal would include private equity because SK Telecom is smaller than Sprint (NYSE: s) in terms of market capitalization. The unidentified sources also told CNBC that talks are on-going, but a deal is not imminent and any agreement could be weeks away. The deal would be complex because of the foreign regulatory hurdles that would have to be met, however, on the technology front Sprint Nextel and SK Telecom both use CDMA, which would help on any sort of integration efforts. UPDATE: Reuters is now reporting that sources are calling the CNBC report incorrect—that the two companies are not in acquisition talks, but rather are talking about collaborating on technology efforts. "There are no acquisition talks going on right now between SK Telecom and Sprint ( NYSE: S ). Any discussions that are going on are around technology collaboration," the source told Reuters. WSJ is reporting something similar: The two are in prelim talks to form a "strategic partnership to develop new handsets and services". Our mobile application for Blackberry and other Smartphones brings you the latest headlines when you're on the go. Go here to download .