ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Satellite TV operator Dish NetworkCorp. on Wednesday raised its bid
for Clearwire Corp., valuing thewireless network operator at $6.9 billion, in an attempt to outbidSprint
Nextel Corp. two days before Clearwire shareholders are meetingto vote on a deal.Dish’s bid of $4.40 in
cash per share is 29percent higher than Sprint’s bid of $3.40 per share. Sprint wants to buythe half of
Clearwire that it doesn’t already own.Dish’s previous offer, from January, was for $3.30 per
share.Clearwire shares jumped 22 percent to $4.23 in after-hours trading.DishNetwork Corp. chairman
Charlie Ergen said in a statement thatClearwire’s wireless spectrum — space on the airwaves — is key to
Dishbeing able to deliver future services. Ergen said in an open letter toClearwire Chairman John
Stanton that Dish’s bid is "a meaningfullysuperior alternative" to Sprint’s offer.Englewood,
Colo.-basedDish also offered to loan Clearwire up to $800 million in exchange fornotes that would bear a
low 1 percent annual interest rate, but allowDish to exchange the notes for Clearwire shares at a ratio
valuing themat $2.50 per share. Dish also extended its offer to minorityshareholders, saying it would
accept their shares if it was able toacquire at least 25 percent of all shares and have a say in
howClearwire is run.Clearwire has said it tapped into financing from Sprint in the form of convertible
notes.Clearwire’sboard had recommended that shareholders vote in favor of Sprint’s bidbefore Dish’s
latest offer Wednesday. The wireless carrier raised itsoffer by 14 percent, to $2.5 billion, last week.
Sprint, based inOverland Park, Kan., is Clearwire’s only major wholesale customer, anduses its network
to provide "Sprint 4G" service.Dish, eager toget into the wireless business, has also offered
to buy Sprint for $25.5billion, but it is competing in that bid with Japanese wireless phonecarrier
Softbank.Earlier Wednesday, Sprint and Softbank said thatU.S. regulators said there were no national
security issues withSoftbank’s potential $20.1 billion purchase of Sprint, paving the wayfor the Federal
Communications Commission to complete its review of thatdeal.Sprint shares added 5 cents to $7.33 in
aftermarket trading. Dish stock was inactive.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.