Clearwire Corp has chosen Ericsson to take over management of its high-speed wireless network, the service provider said on Wednesday.

Clearwire, which is majority-owned by Sprint Nextel , said that it would retain full ownership and strategic direction of the network under the seven-year agreement.

The deal involves 700 Clearwire employees moving to work with Ericsson, which already manages Sprint's network.

Both Clearwire and Sprint have been discussing the potential for Clearwire to use Sprint's wireless towers to expand its network further. Clearwire did not disclose the terms of the Ericsson agreement or how it relates to the Sprint talks.

Clearwire shares were up 5 percent at $4.48 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday morning. Sprint shares were up 1.4 percent at $5.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Matthew Lewis)