Sprint Nextel Mulls Breakup: Report

The possibility of a buyout also brings up questions over Sprint's long-rumored merger of its WiMax division with Clearwire (CLWR Quote). In March, Clearwire said it has been active in talks to hammer out an agreement with Sprint for a deal that would create a new company that combines Sprint's licenses in the 2.5-gigahertz wireless spectrum and Clearwire's spectrum in the same and adjoining air waves.

The following month, Sprint said the commercial launch of the high-speed WiMax network had been postponed, leading to questions about the company's ability to fund the technology. However, Comcast (CMCSA Quote) and Time Warner (TWX Quote) were said to be considering offering their backing. Intel (INTC Quote) has indicated it's interested, and Google (GOOG Quote) is believed to be thinking about participating in the project.