In previous conference calls, Clearwire’s CEO Bill Morrow has explained that Sprint doesn’t control the board. They can appoint seven of the 13 seats, but to take major decisions on the direction of the company it requires a supermajority, or at least 10 of the 13 votes.

In the second-quarter call, Morrow was explicitly clear when it came to the subject of whether Sprint could reject financing from another U.S. carrier: “Let’s just say, the largest arch enemy of our top shareholder [Sprint] kind of came in and said we’re going to offer you great economic terms, I think the reality is, is if that made sense to us, we’d still get that approved. We’d naturally take into account all actions or what would affect us from a value standpoint.”

So, Sprint is more likely debating how much it wants to protect its investment and pour more money in themselves, thereby cutting off potential competition from gleaning any benefits of Clearwire’s advanced 4G position. Just today, Clearwire launched 4G in Boston, Providence, Rhode Island, and Daytona Beach, Florida in order to serve 52 markets and cover 60 million people.  To be sure, T-Mobile USA does not have a strategy for how it will build out a 4G network in the U.S., and is currently looking. Lightsquared, which is backed by hedge fund manager Philip Falcone, has emerged as another option. Previously, its CEO Robert Dotson has confirmed interest in Sprint’s Clearwire network, however, T-Mobile will soon be transitioning to new leadership meaning that anything is possible.

Credit Suisse Analyst Jonathan Chaplin wrote in a research report this morning that a Clearwire-T-Mobile deal is in the best interest of Sprint shareholders, and that “Sprint will not be relinquishing a meaningful competitive advantage.” He said T-Mobile would only be interested in an LTE network, which Clearwire would not deploy until sometime next year. At that point, Verizon will already having a 4G offering and AT&T’s 4G roll-out will be well under way. He reasons that 4G will no longer be a source of differentiation for Sprint.