Sprint Nextel has revived serious discussions with startup Clearwire to form a joint venture that would bring in funding from the likes of Intel, Google and Best Buy to build a high-speed wireless network using WiMax technology. [WSJ]

Sprint Nextel plans to lay off several thousand employees, as newly installed CEO Dan Hesse seeks to show investors a new commitment to efficiency and cost discipline at the nation's No. 3 wireless carrier. Sprint, which let 5,000 workers go last year, has about 60,000 employees. [WSJ]

Comcast announced today that it has surpassed Embarq, Sprint's former local-phone business, to become the country's fourth largest residential phone provider. Comcast currently has 4.1 million VOIP customers, all signed up in the past 30 months. [Epicenter]

Sprint Nextel has a new CEO to replace Gary Forsee, who exited the company in October. Dan Hesse, former CEO of Embarq, a local phone company that Sprint spun out last year, will take the post. Hesse previously worked 23 years at AT&T, including a stint running AT&T Wireless. [WSJ]

Vonage isn't just facing service issues today. It's also been revealed that Nortel countersued the Internet telephone provider over a patent dispute. That makes four big telephone companies suing Vonage for patent infringement: AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon, and now Nortel. The good news: At this rate, Vonage is…

Sprint Nextel rejected an offer by South Korea's SK Telecom and private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners to invest $5 billion in the company and install former chairman Tim Donahue as chief executive. [WSJ]

Sprint and WiMax startup Clearwire have ended plans to form a joint venture. Supposedly the "complexities of the transaction" and the ouster of Sprint CEO Gary Forsee torpedoed the deal. This leaves a nationwide WiMax rollout for either company very much up in the air. [WSJ]

Sprint is considering a spinoff of its WiMax division, combining it with wireless startup Clearwire, to form a venture with national reach in wireless spectrum. Forming a new company to focus on WiMax would allow backers to bet on it, but keep the huge capital expenditures required from a national rollout off Sprint's…

Wracked with iPhone envy, Sprint is putting out its own touchscreen phone in time for the holidays. (Bitches just jealous.) Which is great for them, but what I really want to know is: Is Sprint's version safe to rub on your crotch? [AP]

Sprint CEO Gary Forsee is quitting effective immediately and Sprint has adjusted its financial guidance downwards. The company's board has been looking at outside candidates, so feel free to submit your resume. [WSJ]

Sprint Nextel board members are on the hunt for a new CEO to replace Gary Forsee. Sprint has been losing out to AT&T and Verizon in signing up new customers and recently lost the confidence of investor Ralph Whitworth, who owns almost 2 percent of the company. [WSJ]

Vonage, the Internet phone service, has found itself besieged by more legal woes. A court has found it infringed on six Sprint Nextel patents, and ordered Vonage to cough up $69.5 million and a 5 percent royalty on future sales. Last March, Vonage suffered similar penalties after it was found guilty of infringing on…

Sprint is unilaterally canceling the accounts of 1,200 problem customers. One wonders if that number includes investigators hired by Hewlett-Packard. "Some of the cancellations involved customers who repeatedly asked for information about other people's accounts." [Reuters]