Clearwire, Sprint Finally Set Wireless Merger

The completion of the deal will have "significant positives" for both Clearwire and Sprint, the analyst said. Clearwire will get the funding help it needs, and Sprint will maintain majority ownership "without the operational headaches, allowing its management team to focus on its struggling core wireless business," King added.

The completion of the long-rumored WiMax deal with Clearwire puts to rest one issue Sprint has grappled with lately. In the week leading up to Sprint posting first-quarter results, Sprint management also had to contend with rumors that rival Deutsche Telekom (DT) was considering a bid to acquire the company.

At the same time, rumors surfaced that Sprint was mulling the sale or spinoff of its Nextel unit. Were that to happen, it would mean the dramatic failure of the $35 billion deal, completed less than three years ago, that created the company.

During the conference call, Hesse declined to comment on potential Deustche Telekom bid or a spin off of the Nextel unit.

Sprint competitors AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) are also racing to bring next-generation wireless networks to market. Both have snubbed the WiMax technology in favor of Long Term Evolution, or LTE, technology that will bring so-called 3G wireless speeds to customers.

AT&T fell 1.9%, and Verizon lost 1.6%. Vodafone (VOD), which is a partner in Verizon Wireless, slipped 0.7%.

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