Sprint may build WiMax network

Sprint Nextel Corp. may get as much as $1.5 billion from cable companies to build a new high-speed wireless network, people familiar with the talks said Wednesday.

Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. are in negotiations to fund a Sprint venture that would use a new technology called WiMax that is five times faster than today’s wireless networks, said two people with knowledge of the talks.

WiMax provides Web access for mobile phones and laptops across entire cities, instead of limiting them to patches served by wireless fidelity technology. Sprint Chief Executive Daniel Hesse is counting on WiMax to give him an edge over rivals AT&T; Inc. and Verizon Wireless, providing download speeds his rivals will be unable to match.

“This is something that’s been hanging over the head of Sprint,” said Jim Moorman, an equity analyst at Standard & Poor’s in New York. “It takes a lot of the funding needs off of them.”

Shares of Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint climbed a dime to $6.52. Its partner in the venture, Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire Corp., jumped 80 cents, or 6%, to $14.19.

Sprint and Clearwire may get as much as $1 billion from Comcast and $500 million from Time Warner Cable, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the talks are private.

Spokesmen for the companies declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks.