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Clearwire, the potentially disruptive WiMax pioneer supported by Intel, Motorola, Bell Canada, and others, went public today to much fanfare and skepticism. It priced at the high end of its range, netting some $600 million, but finished the day 10% lower than where it started.

Investors are entranced by the massive transformational potential of its technology wireless broadband, essentially, that is more powerful and has greater range than wifi and therefore threatens to disrupt existing broadband and cellular technologies. But they are wary of its massive upfront costs, piling debt, technological adoption hurdles, and looming competition from the likes of Sprint.

In a 2004 article in Strategy and Innovation, Clayton Christensen and Scott Anthony applauded the company for taking an emergent, disruptive approach by rolling out its technology in small, underserved, rural markets where it would initially compete against nonconsumption rather than powerful incumbents. Two and a half years later, Clearwires promise continues to grow (as evidenced by the four billion dollar valuation the IPO fetched), but doubts and challenges are mounting as well.

This post is a thought starter what do you all think of Clearwires chances? What strategy should it pursue to optimize its chances of success? Does WiMax represent the next wave of disruption in telecomm? Will Clearwire win the space it has pioneered? Would love your thoughts on this one