Money pit? Clearwire to get cash infusion

Sprint Nextel and other Clearwire investors are reportedly going to pump another $1.5 billion into the WiMax provider.

According to the Wall Street Journal (Techmeme):

Sprint would invest $1 billion and its Clearwire joint venture partners, a group which includes Comcast Corp., Intel Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks LLC, would kick in another $500 million, said these people. Google Inc., which has been a key joint venture partner, isn't involved in the latest financing round, these people added.

The announcement is supposed to come this week.

The latest round of funding is necessary if Clearwire's partners want to keep WiMax alive. WiMax has big backers, but the horse that's going to carry the technology across the finish line---Clearwire---isn't exactly a thoroughbred. Meanwhile, Verizon and other big carriers are betting on LTE, a rival technology to WiMax.

At least Clearwire can continue its rollout into major metropolitan areas. Clearwire was betting on a big fourth quarter, but that was a date with disaster from the start.