Vodafone veteran is Clearwire's pick for CEO

Clearwire hired William Morrow, a former Vodafone Group executive, as chief executive officer as the high-speed wireless Internet company pursues a nationwide expansion of its network.

Effective Monday, Morrow, 49, replaced Ben Wolff, who becomes co-chairman alongside Craig McCaw, the Kirkland-based company said.

Morrow will bring operational expertise to the company as it grows to cover about 120 million people across the U.S. by 2010, board member John Stanton said on a call with reporters.

The company raised $3.2 billion to build out its fourth-generation WiMax network in December.

"Ben was a deal maker," said Steve Clement, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland. "Now that they're moving into an operational phase, I don't think it's terribly surprising that he's transitioning into a different role and they're bringing someone in with a more operational background."

The new CEO was announced after the stock market closed Monday. Clearwire shares slipped 6 cents to $2.87 in after-hours trading after climbing 11 cents in the regular session. The stock has dropped 41 percent this year.

Clearwire, founded by McCaw, is racing against rivals such as Verizon Wireless, which plans to offer its own 4G service next year using a different technology.

Verizon, the largest U.S. mobile-phone carrier, said the technology will be available in 30 markets by 2010 and nationwide by 2015.

Wolff, who will remain president of McCaw's Eagle River Investments, will have the task of continuing the company's financing efforts, which may help it speed expansion plans.

Clearwire has said its WiMax technology will be as much as five times faster than third-generation networks that now serve devices like Apple iPhone 3G and Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm.

Clearwire's expansion is backed by Intel and Google. Last year, the company wrapped in Sprint Nextel's WiMax unit.

"We went through a search process over the past two months and had a number of people that we looked at," Stanton said. "Bill quickly emerged as the cream of the crop because of his experience in the industry."

Morrow, a former head of Vodafone's European and Japanese operations, also held executive positions at Japan Telecom, Clearwire said. He served as president and CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric in San Francisco until his departure in August, according to a regulatory filing.