Satellite TV provider Dish Network is offering to buy Bellevue-based wireless network operator Clearwire — which agreed to sell itself to Sprint in December — for $5.15 billion.
Clearwire Corp. said it will discuss the unsolicited offer with Dish. However, Sprint, which owns 51 percent of Clearwire, said it would have to sign off on Dish’s offer and that it does not intend to do so.
Sprint Nextel Corp. has offered to buy the remaining 49 percent of the company for $2.2 billion. Sprint is the third-largest U.S. cellphone company and it depends on Clearwire to provide high-speed Sprint 4G data services on some of its phones. Some of Clearwire’s shareholders oppose the sale, saying Clearwire could get a better price.
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