NEW YORK — Sprint Nextel Corp. said weekday that it will kibosh commerce phones and another devices harmonious with Clearwire Corp.'s underway meshwork at the modify of incoming year, after it switches on its possess higher-speed, fourth-generation accumulation network.

Sprint is Clearwire's maximal client and eld owner, but doesn't curb it. Phones tagged "Sprint 4G" ingest Clearwire's meshwork today.

Clearwire's have lapse 54 cents, or 26 percent, to $1.51 in hour trading Friday. The shares impact a 52-week baritone of $1.32 in August.

Sprint's have also fell, but for a assorted reason. The consort held an circumstance for investors and analysts in New royalty on Friday, but it didn't feature how it expects the iPhone to change its results, today that it's healthy to delude the desirable smartphone.

Sprint, which is supported in Overland Park, Kan., started attractive pre-orders for the iPhone 4S on weekday and hopes that the sound will hold the consort enlist and ready customers in rivalry with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless. But Sprint will clear Apple affectionately for the permit of commerce the phone.

An iPhone that Sprint sells for $200 with a two-year lessen costs $600 or so indiscriminate from Apple. Like another carriers, Sprint has to calculate on making up the disagreement over instance finished assist fees. Analysts were hunting for whatever clearness on Sprint's science here, and were frustrated.

CEO Dan author said the iPhone would over instance "be digit of our most juicy devices" but did not elaborate.

Sprint's have was downbound 14 cents, or 4.7 percent, at $2.87.

Analysts were also puzzled that Sprint isn't including Clearwire in its meshwork mend project. Sprint's chair of meshwork operations, Steve Elfman, said that the consort is already antiquity its possess fourth-generation, or 4G, accumulation meshwork and will start it incoming summer. By the modify of 2012, it will counterbalance as some grouping as Clearwire's meshwork does today, and a assemblage later, it will be farther larger.

Sprint is using a 4G profession famous as LTE, for Long-Term Evolution. Rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless are using the aforementioned technology. Clearwire, on the another hand, uses an early profession titled WiMax. That effectuation today's "Sprint 4G" devices will requirement to be replaced to ingest the newborn LTE network.

Clearwire, which is supported in Kirkland, Wash., has said that it plans to physique an LTE meshwork in nonconvergent with WiMax, and Sprint's author mitt the entranceway unstoppered to having Sprint acquire admittance to that meshwork after 2012. However, Clearwire's assets are weak, and it would requirement added resource to physique LTE.

Sprint's meshwork mend will hold the consort hold its iPhone users with wireless data, Sprint executives said. However, today's iPhones crapper ingest neither Clearwire's 4G meshwork nor Sprint's reaching one.

A Clearwire spokesman had no unmediated comment.

The broadcasting spectrum that Sprint is using for 4G is existence free up by the shutdown of the Nextel network, a impact that's ordered to be complete by the modify of incoming year.

Sprint bought Nextel in 2005, an acquisition that presently overturned disastrous. Nextel subscribers started leaving, and Sprint was saddled with the outlay of streaming digit clashing networks. That has contributed to the company's unceasing quarterly business losses since 2007.

"Overall, Sprint appears to be doing the prizewinning it crapper to interpret a instruction forward, but it is play discover significantly hamstrung by decisions prefabricated in the past," Ovum shrink Jan town said.

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