Clearwire outsources more services; faces dealer credit policy charges

Cable's wireless provider, Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR), has outsourced still more operations and is answering questions about charges from three former dealers that they were told to lower credit standards to inflate subscriber numbers.

In its latest cost-cutting move, Clearwire said it would outsource day-to-cay customer care to TeleTech Holdings and move about 700 employees to the company. The move, Clearwire said, will be transparent to customers and will save money and improve operational efficiencies.

Meanwhile, a company spokesman is denying charges by three former dealers that they were encouraged to sign up customers with credit scores below the company's standard or even bypass credit checks.

"We would take a copy of their driver's license and a two-month utility bill and we would send it in for a credit override," said AK Kurji, a dealer with 19 stores in Texas, Florida and the West Coast. "Our numbers jumped."

Clearwire, said spokesman Mike DiGioia, has never authorized those types of practices although the WiMAX provider does have "flexibility" in its credit system.

For more:
- PCWorld has this story
- Bloomberg has this story

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