Sprint, Clearwire Close Deal Forming WiMax Venture

Clearwire and Sprint Nextel announced Friday that they have completed the transaction to combine their high-speed wireless Internet businesses, a venture that has received backing from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Intel and Google. Sprint will own a 51% interest in the venture; Clearwire will hold 27%; and the investor group will hold a combined 22% of the equity. Clearwire and Sprint have said they expect the WiMax network the new company will build out to reach 60 million to 80 million people by 2009, 140 million by 2010 and 200 million by 2011.