Clearwire and Sprint Nextel announced today that the two companies will collaborate to create a new telecommunications company with assets starting at $14.55 billion. The venture is to be called Clearwire and will receive a $3.2 billion investment from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Networks.
Sprint Nextel will control 51% of shares in the new company. Existing Clearwire shareholders will control 27% of shares. Contributors to the $3.2 billion investment will receive the remaining shares.
“The agreement enables us to get to market faster and reach a broader audience than we could have if we went alone,” Dan Hesse, Sprint Nextel’s chief executive officer, told analysts during a conference call Wednesday.
Clearwire will focus on building a mobile network based on WiMax technology. WiMax has faster download speeds and better indoors coverage than most current service provider’s technology. Some also see WiMax as a competitor to fixed-line broadband.
Clearwire currently uses WiMax to provide wireless Internet service in some parts of the United States. In 2007, Clearwire had a subscriber base of nearly 400,000 broadband customers. The restructured company has the goal to develop a network that has the potential to reach 120 million to 140 million people by the end of 2010.
Service providers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless aren’t planning to use WiMax technology, Instead, there are upgrading current networks and working on future technology called Long Term Evolution.
Today Vodafone announced that it has become a principal member of the WiMAX Forum, a non-profit organization committed to promoting and certifying interoperable WiMAX products. This technology is et to allow high-speed Internet access from mobile devices over greater distances than previous technologies, such as Wi-Fi. 
