Clearwire & Sprint agree on common architecture

The on again off again relationship between Clearwire and Sprint continues. New and presumably level headed management at Sprint has prompted new talks between the two, but the only agreement so far has been to use a common architecture:

Clearwire Corp. and Sprint Nextel Corp. still haven’t resurrected their now-defunct plan for a collaborative nationwide mobile WiMAX buildout, Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff said in a conference call this morning.

However, the two companies aren’t ignoring each other, either.

“The companies have aligned on common network architecture,” Wolff announced at Clearwire’s investor conference in Portland, Ore.

“The teams have made a lot of progress in the last 60 days,” Wolff said, adding that both companies are “making significant progress on the terms of our roaming agreement.” (from RCR News)

As the saga continues it appears that the 2 companies recognize some synergy between them is possible. If they could make a roaming agreement, and deploy in cities for maximum joint coverage they would do one another a great deal of good. Another access choice, especially one without a wire would be very good for America as well.