Clearwire, the broadband wireless service provider founded by mobile pioneer Craig McCaw, is about to find out if Wall Street can fall in love for a second time with broadband Fixed wireless firms. The company, which was relatively quiet as it expanded into almost 30 markets around the country over the last three years, has filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of common stock. The filing, which stated an initial estimated valuation of $400 million for the IPO, came on a day when the Dow ultimately ended the day down more than 140 points, and the NASDAQ down almost 50 points. It has been five years since Winstar and Teligent, national broadband wireless service providers from a previous generation that were publicly traded after much-hyped IPOs, went bankrupt.

Clearwire, based in Kirkland, Wash., has not yet recorded a profit, having posted a net loss of about $140 million last year, though that's not uncommon of a service provider in the initial phases of aggressive market expansion. The SEC filing stated that the firm will use money raised from the IPO to further expand its network and acquire more spectrum. Clearwire currently is the second largest owner of 2.5 GHz licenses in the U.S., after Sprint Nextel.