(Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) plans to raise $2 billion in debt in a private transaction, the company said on Monday.

Sprint, which is spending $7 billion on a network upgrade, said it would use the funds for general purposes, including its network upgrade or potential funding of Clearwire Corp (CLWR.O), in which it already has a majority stake.

The No. 3 U.S. mobile provider said the notes would be due in 2017 and 2020. Sprint already sold $4 billion in bonds in November to help it fill a funding gap for its network upgrade and its commitment to pay more than $15 billion to Apple Inc (AAPL.O) for their iPhone agreement.

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