Sprint, Clearwire shares rise on WiMax report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Clearwire Corp (CLWR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) both rose sharply on Tuesday following a Wall Street Journal report that the two companies have revived talks to form a joint venture to build a high-speed wireless network using WiMax technology.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal said in an online report that the venture could bring in funding from the likes of Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Best Buy Co (BBY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to help lower its price tag.

Sprint declined to comment. Clearwire could not be reached immediately for comment.

Shares of Sprint, the third-largest U.S. mobile service provider, rose 8 percent to $10.75 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, while start-up Clearwire jumped 20 percent to $15 on Nasdaq.

Last November, Sprint said it had scrapped a WiMax partnership with Clearwire under which the two companies would have joined forces on marketing, distribution and network access.

In December, Sprint said it was looking at possibilities to attract outside funding for WiMax amid investor concerns over its plan to spend $5 billion on the emerging technology that boasts high data rates over long distances but has yet to be proven commercially.

In December Sprint announced a new Chief Executive Dan Hesse replacing Gary Forsee, who had inked the original deal with Clearwire.

The Journal said Sprint and Clearwire are in serious talks on a more ambitious plan that would involve spinning off Sprint's WiMax unit and merging it with Clearwire. But it noted there was no guarantee the joint venture would materialize, or that external funding could be secured.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew and Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)