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The technology is there, as Techcrunch says, but the value proposition is shakey.

Clearwire and Sprint Nextel said Wednesday they will combine their wireless broadband units to create a $14.55 billion communications company.

The new company, to be named Clearwire, will receive a $3.2 billion investment from Intel Corp., Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks.

OK, great.  More wireless access is better than less.  But a closer look reveals flaws that no amount of marketing will remedy, much less build a good business for.  The measure here is a good old fashioned value proposition – a concept that’s been lost in so translations it’s absurd.  The point:  a relevant value proposition is the cornerstone of all successful brands AND enterprises, from start-ups on up to household names in global business (such as the investors in Clearwire!).  The best value propositions for products or services contain the same three elements:  1.  Clearly articulated benefits.  2.  A price point customers are OK with.  3.  Adoption costs that customers approve of – in other words, making sure that they don’t have to go out an buy something else to starting getting the benefits they saw in the original product.  The Clearwire deal is fuzzy on all three: it’s only offering the service for @home use, not mobile.  Isn’t being mobile what being wireless promises?  Where’s the value in this that I can’t get from the big old expensive phone companies that already have brand and customer lock-in -- like Verizon and AT&T?