China Mobile Communications Corp and Clearwire Corp have teamed up to develop high-speed mobile devices and infrastructure, potentially giving the cash-strapped U.S. 4G operator a technological boost. Shares of Clearwire were up 8 percent at $2.76 after a brief trading suspension.
Under their agreement, the world's largest telecoms carrier by users will work on chipsets and devices for TD-LTE, a 4G wireless technology, that should be available by 2012.
Clearwire announced in August it was looking for almost $1 billion in funding to help upgrade its network with Long Term Evolution (LTE) -- an emerging high-speed technology. TD-LTE is a variant on that standard.
Sprint Nextel Corp has held talks with cable partners about supporting their loss-making Clearwire wireless venture in the face of increasing competition from bigger rivals, sources have said.
