Reuters reports that Clearwire’s auction to sell its spare wireless spectrum “appears to have lost momentum,” with T-Mobile USA left as the last man standing following the exit of other big suitors. While it had been reported that the US wholesale network operator could net as much as US$2 billion from the sale, Clearwire has been left dealing with a number of parties interested in buying “smaller amounts of the spectrum in regional areas,” with T-Mobile remaining its only hope for a big deal. However, Reuters also reports that T-Mobile is in talks with LightSquared over a spectrum deal, although it appears that Clearwire remains the more likely partner.

There had been some hope that T-Mobile would detail its spectrum strategy this week, with Philipp Humm, CEO of T-Mobile USA, expected to give an update to investors later today (Thursday). However, it now appears that this briefing will not include details of an alliance with Clearwire, or LightSquared. The big issue for T-Mobile USA is that its main rivals already have their strategies in place: Verizon Wireless and AT&T have recently detailed their LTE strategies, while Sprint is already marketing WiMAX services in partnership with Clearwire. Even smaller rival MetroPCS has begun the introduction of LTE services. Bloomberg notes that while T-Mobile may not need to introduce LTE to cater to capacity and speed demands before 2013, it will face a marketing challenge in the interim, as its rivals work to promote the capabilities of their more advanced networks.