China-based ZTE's United States subsidiary has entered into a master purchase agreement with Sprint Nextel (S).

"We chose ZTE because we found the company to be a cutting-edge innovator backed by the engineering resources of an established, leading global brand," said Barry West, president of 4G Mobile Broadband, Sprint.

Under the terms of the agreement, ZTE will supply Sprint with WiMAX PC cards in express and USB form factors, and advanced modem solutions for home networking. Sprint plans to make its WiMAX services commercially available to 100 million people in the U.S. by year end 2008.

WiMAX is a standards-based technology that is a high performance, un-tethered alternative to cable and DSL networking. Via a robust, advanced WiMAX network, end-users can have access to anywhere wireless Internet access, without being tied to a single location required by home or public access points, such as Wi-Fi.

ZTE's express and USB cards will equip Sprint subscribers with anywhere wireless data access on their laptop, desktop or mobile device. The home modem can serve as a replacement networking solution for the home cable modem, enabling service providers to quickly roll-out fixed broadband wireless service access via their network. ZTE's modem is also equipped to enable carriers to offer VoIP-based voice services.