US WiMAX service provider Clearwire is in talks with potential partners such as retailers, consumer electronic makers and operators to expand, reports Bloomberg. CEO Bill Morrow told the news agency Clearwire plans to announce the new providers in the coming months. Clearwire – majority owned by US cellular operator Sprint Nextel – is one of the world’s largest WiMAX service providers and is already reselling its service to Sprint and cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable. “The landscape is changing, and it’s not just the classic carrier saying ‘I don’t have spectrum,’” Morrow said. “It’s people in different fields and different industries that you wouldn’t think would be knocking on our door.”

Clearwire managed to secure nearly US$3 billion in new funding during the fourth quarter of last year, with a substantial portion coming from its wholesale partners. Morrow also told Bloomberg that other companies interested in buying a stake in Clearwire have approached the carrier. The company will expand its service to a potential population coverage area of 120 million people by the end of the year and has a long-term goal to increase this to 270 million. Morrow added that Clearwire’s cable partners have blocks of wireless spectrum that the company might be able to tap into as more high-bandwidth applications appear.