Sprint, Clearwire Talking WiMax Again?

Back in November, telecommunications operator Sprint publicly cut ties with wireless operator Clearwire over deploying WiMax wireless broadband service, heralding a period of belt-tightening and re-evaluation within Sprint as it’s watched its subscriber retention decline, decided to lay off 4,000 employees and shutter 125 stores, and instituted an executive shakeup that included the departure of its CFO.

Now, the Wall Street Journal says talks between Clearwire and Sprint are back on, with the two companies considering a joint venture backed by deep-pocketed technology companies like Google and Intel. The very expensive goal would be to roll out a nationwide WiMax network—a service Sprint is currently dubbing Xohm—only this time, Sprint would spin off the network into a joint venture with Clearwire, making Sprint’s participation more palatable to its already-jittery investors.

Intel has already invested about $600 million in Clearwire, and Google has already partnered with Sprint to produce a portal for Sprint’s Xohm service.

Sprint already has WiMax service operating in Chicago, and are working towards a public launch in Baltimore and Washington D.C. in April.