Dish Network makes $5.15 billion counter bid for Clearwire to Sprint

NEW YORK (AP) - Wireless network operator Clearwire, which agreed to sell itself to Sprint in December, says satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. is offering to buy the company for $3.30 per share, or $5.15 billion.

Clearwire Corp. says it will discuss the unsolicited offer with Dish. Under the deal, Dish Network would buy about 24 percent of Clearwire's spectrum assets for $2.2 billion, and Clearwire would build and manage a wireless network for Dish. Dish would also provide up to $800 million in additional financing to the struggling Clearwire.

Sprint Nextel Corp. owns 51 percent of Clearwire and it depends on Clearwire to provide high speed Sprint 4G data services on some of its phones. In December it offered to buy the rest of the Bellevue, Wash., company for $2.97 per share.