Sprint and Clearwire to announce joint venture

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Clearwire (CLWR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) are close to announcing a $12 billion (6.08 billion pound) joint venture with major cable operators for high speed wireless Internet access for mobile phones and laptops, a source familiar with the talks said on Tuesday.

An announcement is expected to come before the market opens on Wednesday morning, the source said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on its website.

Sprint, Clearwire and cable companies including Comcast (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Time Warner Cable (TWC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) have been in talks about a joint venture using WiMax that would have investments of about $1.5 billion by the two largest U.S. cable companies, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Comcast is expected to contribute $1 billion, while Time Warner Cable will invest $550 million.

In addition, Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is expected to contribute $1 billion, and Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) $500 million. Bright House Networks, the sixth-largest U.S. cable provider, has also been involved in the discussions, according to the sources, and may contribute up to $200 million.

WiMax is a largely unproven technology that promises to support Internet access at speeds up to five times faster than traditional wireless networks, and can support a range of mobile and video applications.

The cable companies pulled out of a previous wireless phone joint venture with Sprint last month.

Sprint, Comcast and Time Warner Cable declined to comment. Clearwire was not immediately available.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan, Yinka Adegoke and Sinead Carew; editing by Braden Reddall, Richard Chang)