Sprint Nextel is seeking greater control of Clearwire, the wireless network operator in which it owns close to a majority stake, through negotiations with its partners in the company, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.
The talks with other Clearwire investors, including Intel, Comcast and Eagle River Holdings, come as Sprint prepares to sell a 70 percent stake in itself to SoftBank, the big Japanese cellphone service provider, for $20.1 billion.
Should Sprint reach an agreement with some of its partners, it would simplify a relationship with Clearwire that has complicated the service provider's attempts to overhaul its network.
And it would do so without necessarily buying the rest of the company, though a full-scale acquisition could be possible down the road. That might frustrate Clearwire investors who had bet on a full-on takeover by Sprint, at a significant premium.
The negotiations to take control of Clearwire could take months to conclude and may not lead to successful transactions, these people cautioned.
Taking control of Clearwire is not a necessity for the completion of the SoftBank transaction, which is expected to close by the middle of next year, pending regulatory approval.
Sprint and SoftBank said in a statement on Monday that their deal “does not require Sprint to take any actions involving Clearwire Corporation other than those set forth in agreements Sprint has previously entered into†with the network operator and its investors.
Through a number of investments, Sprint gained about 48 percent of Clearwire, and it has the right to fill seven seats on the company's 13-member board. But without greater control over the wireless broadband provider, Sprint runs the risk of losing control of one of its most important partners.
Founded in 2003 by the wireless industry pioneer Craig McCaw, Clearwire already handles some data traffic for Sprint customers. But it has lo ng faced financial difficulty, requiring several cash infusions from outside investors.
While the company focused on a wireless data standard that has been supplanted by Long Term Evolution, or LTE, it holds valuable spectrum that Sprint and its prospective new owner covet.
That wireless resource could be used to develop Sprint's LTE data network, which would support newer devices like the Apple iPhone 5 and various Android devices.
Building out that network is among the most important goals that SoftBank has for Sprint. The Japanese company's chief executive, Masayoshi Son, has devised a strategy that revolves in large part around building the same sort of high-speed data infrastructure that he is creating in his home market.
Mr. Son believes having a reliable and fast network would allow Sprint to better take on the two major wireless service providers in the United States, Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
“U.S. citizens don't have this experience of high speed,†Mr. Son said on a conference call with analysts on Monday. “We're going to bring that to the States.â€
Sprint's talks with its partners were reported by The Wall Street Journal late Wednesday.
