They're off! Powerful contenders join Sprint to WiMAX

Ailing US carrier Sprint has played the high-risk WiMAX card (again) in an attempt to innovate it's way out of trouble. This week the company announced a new WiMAX-pushing power-consortium which will invest $12 billion in a Sprint-led network build.

The unlikely partners include Time Warner, Comcast and lesser-known cable company Bright House as well as Intel and Google. Now Sprint has to convince the world that 'Clearwire' (as the new effort is called) is not a desperate overpitch.

Clearwire will first focus on constructing an "advanced" mobile net based on WiMAX; a fact that has most analysts feeling bullish, seeing it as a fresh start for Sprint which, under its new chief Dan Hesse, has taken some plucky forward steps in an effort to reverse its fortunes.

"This is an opportunity to unlock and bring visibility to the value of our significant spectrum assets, technology and expertise, by leveraging the technology, applications and distribution strengths of our investors, who together command nearly a half-trillion dollars in market capitalization," said Hesse, in a statement.

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