KANSAS CITY, MO. - An alliance of top technology and cable companies led by Sprint Nextel said Wednesday that it will invest billions of dollars to build a national wireless network that offers high-speed Internet access for people at home and on the go.

Sprint, the troubled No. 3 wireless carrier, said it will combine its current mobile broadband effort with the work of wireless Internet provider Clearwire, creating a $14.5 billion company that will retain the Clearwire name.

Microchip maker Intel, Internet search giant Google and cable providers Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will invest $3.2 billion in the network for a 22 percent stake in the company. Sprint would own 51 percent.

The venture, with plans to reach up to 140 million people by the end of 2010, is one of the biggest to chase the tech industry goal of bringing high-speed Internet connections to people wherever they are. It also aims to connect a range of devices including laptops, cameras and media players.

By investing in the network's WiMax technology, which offers greater range than the Wi-Fi service found in coffee shops, airports and many homes, and speeds akin to cable modems, cable companies are seeking a wireless foothold and a way to fight phone company rivals AT&T and Verizon.

The cable companies said they will resell the Clearwire service, likely bundling it with their video, phone and wired Internet offerings. They and the new Clearwire also will sell Sprint's current wireless voice and data services.

Sprint had planned a commercial launch of a WiMax service called Xohm this year. The technology, intended for use in homes, outdoors and in cars at highway speeds, has already been deployed for testing with Sprint employees in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Investors had questioned whether battered Sprint, which has been closing stores and cutting jobs, should take on the expense of building the network, with an initial price tag once estimated at $5 billion.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said deciding what to do with the WiMax effort has been a top priority since he took over in December. He said working with Clearwire and the investing companies will provide at least a two-year jump on AT&T and Verizon, which are deploying a broadband technology called Long Term Evolution, or LTE.

"This is an all-star team," Hesse said. "It's an unprecedented union that brings top players from several industries together so that collectively we have the expertise and resources to realize the full potential of the next generation of mobile broadband."

The current Clearwire, based in Kirkland, Wash., provides wireless Internet access using a technology similar to WiMax. It has about 400,000 customers in various parts of the country.

The deal to create a new Clearwire is expected to be completed in the fall. It sill requires the approval of federal regulators and existing Clearwire stockholders, who would own 27 percent of the new company.

Shares for Clearwire and Sprint initially surged on the news Wednesday, but Clearwire stock ended down 24 cents at $16.22, while Sprint's fell 3 cents to $9.16.

The new company plans to make its service available to 120 million to 140 million people in the U.S. by the end of 2010, although company officials acknowledged they'll need to raise or borrow up to $2.3 billion more to make that happen. Alternatively, they said they could shrink the size of the network.

A similar partnership of five cable companies and Sprint, called Pivot, collapsed earlier this year. But Hesse said the Clearwire model would do better as it gives the cable partners greater control over branding and rolling out services to the market.

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