What You Need To Know Now…

Verizon To Pay $10M For The Right Answers
Know a thing or two about wireless, wireline or cloud-based solutions for some of the biggest challenges facing education, healthcare or sustainability? Verizon Chairman/CEO Lowell McAdam promises awards totaling $10 million to U.S.-based corporate and individual thinkers who prevail in the year-long Powerful Answers Award Competition that kicks off March 31, with winners announced at the 2014 CES (go to www.powerfulanswersaward.com for more information). Submissions (judged by Verizon execs, academia, the media and venture capitalists) must include a summary of the idea or product; an articulation of the problem being solved; a high-level business plan; and some idea of the potential global impact of the solution and – wait for it – how it incorporates Verizon’s wireless/wireline networking.

DISH Ups The Clearwire Ante
The battle heats up for 4G player Clearwire, with DISH Networks offering $3.30 per share ($2.2 billion) for Clearwire stock along with additional financing on specified terms. Last month, Sprint inked a deal with its joint venture to pay $2.97/share for the remainder of the stock it doesn’t already own, but many said that price was low ball. What happens now is that a special committee of Clearwire’s board (which already had approved the Sprint buyout) will meet with DISH “to discuss, negotiate and/or provide information” regarding its query. Sprint isn’t taking this laying down, saying it “believes its agreement to acquire Clearwire, which offers Clearwire shareholders certain and attractive value, is superior to the highly conditional DISH proposal.” At first blush, there are fewer conditions in the Sprint proposal, but cold, hard cash may win out.